Overcome
by Phantom-Demon
Summary: Being in the modern world, Steve never thought the past could ever catch up to him. As he settles into a simple, quiet life with his wife, it finally does, who is aiding a modern enemy, aiming to take down the Avengers. First they will start with taking what they hold dear, causing panic. Then Steve receives some startling news that changes everything. StevexOC LokixOC
1. Chapter 1

**Can't believe it's December already! It's almost Christmas! Can't believe we've gotten this far with the story either. It's been quite the journey. Oh, right, this is where I mention if you haven't read: "Sometimes Being Different is a Good Thing" and "Altered", STOP NOW AND GO READ THOSE! I mean…you will be rather lost otherwise.**

**And though I didn't do this the start of the last story, my reviewers left some reviews I felt deserved a reply to from the last chapter of the previous story.**

**Larryeneno: Maaaaaaaybe…:D (Hint: End of this chapter)**

**MorWolfMor: Awww, thank you!**

**harrylee94: Hope I answer those questions this story. And I hope I'll do a good job with James.**

**Xandrea: Thank you! XD**

**alleycat2834: SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH! Stop reading my mind! …*cough* end of chapter *cough***

**Dr. Huff-Puff: Thank you!**

* * *

***Not sure if anyone noticed my oopsie with the family's surname but I'm correcting it now. So embarrassing. Maybe I should start writing one story at a time instead of three.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

Sitting on her back porch, Dianne took a deep breath of the sea air, relishing the feel of the cool breeze blowing across her face and through her hair. She loved her home on the coast, loved the cool, overcast weather. It was the perfect climate she could live in.

"Are we ready to go?" she heard her husband, Loki, ask from behind. She was guessing he was still waiting in the doorway.

"Yes, I'm just…savoring the last moments of nice, perfect weather," Dianne replied.

Loki walked over to where he was standing next to the chair his wife was seated in giving her a curious look, "Meaning?"

"Surely you haven't forgotten already," Dianne said, looking up at her husband, "Though…I guess you really haven't been to my parents' place in the summer so you wouldn't really know. It's _hot_ there. And a dry heat. The high can be anywhere from the high eighties to the mid-nineties this week. Unlike here, which is a perfect, breezy, seventy degrees."

Loki smiled, "So that's the reason you've been sitting out here for the last hour."

"Yes. Just soaking in the last of the seventy degrees I'll be experiencing."

Bending down, Loki gave her a tender kiss on her lips, "We best be going though. We don't want to be late."

Dianne nodded, and got to her feet, heading back into the house after Loki, who picked up their suitcases to take them to the car.

"This is…all so surreal," Dianne muttered as Loki pulled out onto the road, heading for the interstate to take them west.

Loki glanced over to his wife for a brief moment, "Just what are you talking about this time?"  
"It was just yesterday she was a little girl," Dianne went on.

Loki smirked, "Well, she's still little."

"Barely," Dianne said, then sighed heavily, "I can't believe Rosemary is graduating."

* * *

Dianne and Loki were hardly at her parents' place twenty minutes and Dianne was already wondering why she missed her sisters over the last eight months. Olyvia and Steve were already at the house when they arrived, and the last twenty minutes Olyvia had spent going from marching around the house behind Rosemary singing the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance" and dramatically throwing herself against something, usually it was a wall or the couch, wailing about wondering when Rosemary grew up. Needless to say, it was a little annoying.

"Livy! Stop," Dianne ordered when she started up with the graduation march.

Olyvia snapped her mouth shut, deciding it was best to not irk her sister, and plopped down on the couch between her and Steve, "Sorry."

"You better be," Dianne grumbled.

Olyvia smiled innocently at her sister before reverting to a normal face, "So…how was your one year anniversary?"

That put a smile on Dianne's face, "It was wonderful."

"Good to hear," Olyvia said, "But, speaking of things that happen in April—."

Steve groaned, dropping his head into his hands, but Olyvia continued on, "I _have_ to tell you what I did for April Fools."

Now it was Dianne who groaned, "You know, I regret telling Loki what that day is all about."

Loki smiled, "I think it's a great idea."

Olyvia raised a curious eyebrow, "What'd he do."

"I'll tell you later," Dianne said, "You first wanted to tell me what you did."

"It wasn't funny," Steve growled.

"I thought it was hilarious," Olyvia said, "Anyway, you know how Bruce has been keeping tabs on my radiation problem to make sure the mutation doesn't come back?" Dianne nodded so Olyvia continued, "well, I stuck my hands into the icebox in the freezer for like…a minute or two, then I went running over to Steve in a panic, making him panic and go into full freak out mode. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him it was a joke."

"You are so mean," Dianne laughed.

"It was _not_ funny," Steve repeated, shooting a glare at his wife.

"He still loves me though," Olyvia said, wrapping her arms around Steve's neck and giving him a peck on the cheek, "Besides, I made up for it, didn't I?"

Steve blushed slightly, "U-uh…w-w-well…"

"La-la-la-la, I don't need to be hearing this," Dianne said, plugging her fingers into her ears, "Too much information."

"Huh? I'm lost," Rosemary muttered.

"Good, let it stay that way," Dianne said.

"Midget is graduating tomorrow!" Olyvia exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air.

"You start up with the graduation march again, I will make you a human torch," Dianne threatened.

"Not singing," Olyvia said quickly, snapping her lips shut, "So…what did Loki do?"

Dianne sighed, shooting a glare in Loki's direction who only smiled back at her.

"Well, not only did he steal my towels again while I was in the shower," Dianne said, continuing to glare at Loki, "which is getting old, by the way."

"I don't think so," Loki said with a smirk.

"He tossed glitter on me while I was in there," Dianne said, "Do you know how well glitter sticks to wet surfaces?"

Olyvia burst into laughter, "Oh that's hilarious! So how long were you a sparkly vampire?"

"I think I still have some on me," Dianne said, "But those weren't the only two. He spent the whole day playing pranks, and cheating with his Asgardian magic. He made me think we had thirty cats in the house at one point. And then when we were training, he made me think I burned him into a pile of ashes! Now _that_ wasn't funny."

"I hope you got him back for it," Olyvia said.

Dianne crossed her arms with a huff and leaned back into the couch, "No, not really. I only got him when it was his turn to load the dishwasher. When he went to rinse dishes off, he was sprayed by the hose since I put a rubber band around it. It was the only prank I could think of."

"She just punished me by ignoring me for a week," Loki said, "So I think she got me back."

"I need to come up with an epic prank to pull for next year," Dianne muttered.

"I don't get the allure of pranks," Steve said, "It's not funny."

"Not when you're on the receiving end," Olyvia said, "but when you're the prankster, it's so much fun!"

Steve just shook his head, "It's just not my thing. I guess that means you're safe from any pranks being pulled on you. At least from me."

"Good to know."

* * *

As night fell, the visiting sisters and their husbands retired for the evening to the guest rooms that had previously been their own.

"It feels odd, being in here again," Dianne commented as she and Loki cuddled up together under the covers.

"At least I won't be shot for being caught in here now," Loki said, "Unlike when we first met."

"Seems so long ago, as well as just yesterday," Dianne said, giving Loki a kiss, "Even with everything bad that has happened in that time, the last year and…nine months, it has been the best time of my life."

Loki smiled, wrapping his arms tighter around his wife's waist, "Mine as well."

They kissed again, Dianne snuggling up even closer, trying to get as close as she could. After a few moments of silence once they were all settled in, Loki spoke again.

"So are you ready for tomorrow?"

Dianne nodded, "Yeah…I think I am. You?"

"I am."

* * *

The next morning was a madhouse in the Harris household. Rosemary was running around the house trying to find her graduation gown so that her mother could get it ironed for her, while everyone else was in the kitchen trying to eat breakfast. Allen made waffles, having to make a double batch in order to make enough to sate Steve's appetite, and everyone had crowded into the kitchen and dining area to wait for the food. The room just wasn't big enough to accommodate so many people.

After breakfast, the girls decided they wanted to go out and do a little horseback riding before Rosemary had to really get ready for her graduation. Loki and Steve were also going to join them since the girls' parents weren't going to ride so their horses were available. Steve was a little reluctant to go since he had never ridden a horse before, but Olyvia said she would help him. And then there was Loki, who was being awfully fretful over Dianne. Needless to say, they all expected it to be an interesting ride.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to ride?" Loki asked as Dianne mounted Blaze.

"For the fifth time, yes love, it is just fine," Dianne said, "I've ridden before, stop acting like I'm a porcelain doll."

Loki didn't look convinced, still worried and anxious, but he wasn't going to argue. Olyvia looked at them in confusion, wondering why Loki was being so…protective. He knew Dianne could take care of herself when it came to the horses, so what was going on?

"Think I can get a real horse someday?" Rosemary asked as she saddled up her pony, Kit, pulling Olyvia from her reverie.

"When you're tall enough to get your foot in the stirrup," Olyvia said as she mounted her horse.

Rosemary shot a glare at Olyvia for that comment, tightening the saddle belt so it wouldn't slide around and under the pony while she was riding, and opted to say nothing to avoid a spat.

The others mounted as well, Steve doing so hesitantly, and Olyvia helped him direct the horse out of the barn, making him the last one out.

"Think you have everything under control Steve?" Olyvia asked.

"I doubt anyone could ever have this creature under control," Steve replied.

"Let me rephrase then, are you comfortable?"

"I'm sitting on a hard leather saddle, what do you think?" Steve asked.

"I'll take that as a no."

"You'll get used to it," Rosemary said.

"Eventually," Dianne added, "He'll end up a little sore by the end of the ride I'm sure."

"If he doesn't go numb first," Rosemary quipped.

Steve groaned, "Do I really have to go?"

"No, you don't," Olyvia replied, "You said you wanted to try it out, and you have so if you want… you can stay here."

Seeing the look on his wife's face, he knew she'd like it if he come along, and he would much rather spend all the time he could with her rather than sit around waiting.

"No, I'll go ahead and come along," Steve said, "Just don't expect me to keep up."

Olyvia smiled, "Don't worry, I'll ride with you so you won't get too far ahead."

"Aww, then we can't race," Rosemary whined.

"You'd lose anyway, you have the pony," Olyvia quipped.

Rosemary shot a glare at her sister while Dianne laughed.

"Yeah, but it's so funny when she gets Kit running," Dianne said through her laughter, "it reminds me of that scene in 'Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows' where Holmes is riding the pony."

Olyvia laughed as well, "It does look like that doesn't it? That was a funny scene."

This time Steve actually knew what Olyvia was talking about since they watched all the movies in her growing collection in the last eight months they had been married, Sherlock Holmes being one of them. He had watched countless hours of movies, some of which he thought good, silly, and even a few he considered downright horrible. He couldn't even begin to sort them out himself, and couldn't fathom how Olyvia managed to memorize whole movies and know which quote was from which film. It was mind boggling!

Now that they were all organized…somewhat, they headed for the trail they usually took for their rides. Oscar whined plaintively from the deck where he sat, wanting ever so badly to go, while the Harris's family dog, Happy, just lounged beside him, having not a care in the world. With Steve and Olyvia owning a house, when they got back from their honeymoon they picked Oscar up, since he was Olyvia's dog, and took him to Ashland. Not wanting to leave him alone at the house with the cat, or find someone to look after him, they just went ahead and brought him down with them. As usual, he wanted to go with Olyvia, so when she heard him, went ahead and called him over to follow. Cara showed her distaste for this by walking sideways trying to step on the dog as he ran beside her.

"Hey now, behave girl, it's just Oscar," Olyvia chided, and Cara huffed before proceeding on straight instead of continuing her efforts to step on the dog.

Oscar ran ahead of the group, knowing the path well himself, but would come back on occasion to check on his masters, since they were in the back of the group, before taking off again. Steve was figuring out the mechanics of riding a horse slowly but surely so they weren't too far behind the rest of the family.

"You are such a city guy," Dianne commented from the forefront of the group.

"Hey, he's getting it," Olyvia rebutted, "Bet he's learning faster than Stark would."

"Stark wouldn't even get near a horse," Dianne said, "I doubt he'd trust them. Like Holmes."

Olyvia chuckled, because that sounded like Stark.

"Oh!" Rosemary suddenly exclaimed, startling the horses and her pony a little, earning a shush from her sisters, "Sorry, but I just remembered, about Tony. He told me the other day he and Pepper are engaged!"

"WHAT!?" the other four exclaimed, Steve being so shocked and unaccustomed to horseback riding that he fell off.

Pulling Cara to a stop, Olyvia jumped off and hurried over to her husband, just as Oscar was running over to check on him as well. Oscar got there first, and proceeded to shower him with slobbery kisses.

"You okay?" Olyvia asked, offering him a hand.

"I'm fine," Steve assured her, gently pushing Oscar away and grabbing Olyvia's hand as he pulled himself onto his feet and then wiped the dog drool from his face, "Just…shocked. Stark really proposed?"

Rosemary nodded, "Really, really. They're planning on getting married next spring or something."

"Well, I'm excited to hear that," Olyvia said, getting back onto her horse once she made sure Steve got onto his just fine, "It's about time they got married."

"Yeah, it's taken them how long?" Dianne asked.

"Years at least," Steve said, "They were together before I was found in the ice."

"Then yeah, it's been a while," Olyvia agreed, then looked to her younger sister, "So how did you _forget_ something like that?"

"I just did, okay," Rosemary retorted, starting to become defensive, "If you haven't realized, today has been rather stressful already. I'm graduating!"

"All you're going to be doing is walking halfway across the football field, in front of hundreds of people, and then just sit there until it's time to get your diploma which is just more walking," Olyvia said, "What is so stressful about that?"

"The hundreds of people!" Rosemary replied, "I don't want to embarrass myself by tripping and falling."

"Out of everyone, you know that would have been me when graduating," Olyvia said, "Which didn't happen. Plus, you're walking with Juan aren't you?" Rosemary nodded, so she continued, "He'll make sure you won't trip."

"Wait, you're not walking with Ashley?" Dianne asked.

"No, why?"

"Why? You two practically grew up together, you're best friends, why aren't you walking with her?"

"Juan asked me first!"

"Poor Ashley, being left out, again," Olyvia said.

"Stop it! I'm not leaving her out, we're going to hang out together at Sober Grad tonight," Rosemary rebutted.

"With Juan?" Olyvia and Dianne asked in unison.

"Yeah…so?"

Olyvia just shook her head. It wasn't like she knew what her sister was going through so she wasn't one to talk. She never had a boyfriend to split time between her best friend.

Getting back on track, they continued along the trail, taking a break once they reached the ridge, mostly for Steve, before they were back on the horses and on the last leg of their trek. At the speed they were going, it took them an hour and a half to get back to the house. Had they raced like Rosemary wanted, they could have clocked it possibly just below half an hour.

"So…that wasn't so bad, was it?" Olyvia asked Steve as they left the barn after putting away the riding gear.

"No, it wasn't so bad," Steve replied, "Don't know when I'll be able to sit down again, but I did enjoy myself."

As they approached the house, Brenda came out the back door, "Livy, you have a visitor."

Olyvia's brow furrowed in confusion, "Who?"

Her mother said nothing, instead just motioned for her to hurry up and get inside. With a sigh, she picked up her pace and headed in. She groaned when she saw Bruce in the living room.

"It's June, it's time for another checkup," he said, seeing her expression.

Olyvia turned and latched herself onto Steve, "Don't let him touch me with the needles Steve!"

Steve rolled his eyes, "Now isn't the time to act childish Livy."

"I'm sick and tired of needles!" Olyvia exclaimed, this time being completely serious, "I hate them! Before I could handle them, but now…I'm just tired of being poked like a pincushion."

"We've been over this Olyvia," Steve said, "We need to make sure the mutation won't come back."

"And just how long do we have to do this before I'm in the clear?"

Steve didn't say anything since he didn't have the answer to that, so Olyvia looked over to Bruce.

"I think just a year since we started would be enough," Bruce said, "And August will be the last one. After that, I'll call it good."

"Good to know," Olyvia said, "Okay, where do you want to do this?"

"Not in the living room, whatever you do," Rosemary said, "The sight of blood is still icky to me."

Olyvia motioned for Bruce to follow her, since Rosemary didn't want them around, and headed into the basement, which she and Dianne had made into a gaming room when they were in high school. She was surprised her parents hadn't changed it around at all into something else.

Steve went with his wife of course, and like the last three checkups, Olyvia held his hand, to keep herself distracted from the needle. Steve didn't realize what a toll these checkups had taken on Olyvia's psyche, she really was starting to develop a phobia of needles. At least it would be over soon. If Bruce found no changes, that is.

"Okay, we're done," Bruce said as he finished wrapping the bandage around her arm.

"Thank you," Olyvia muttered, "So are you just here for that, or are you going to stay for Rosemary's graduation?"

"I just might stay, since its tonight," Bruce said, "I doubt I'll have an incident."

"Oh, you'd be surprised what some of the people around here can bring out in people," Olyvia said, "Not that I'm trying to convince you not to go, I'm just warning you."

"Noted," Bruce said, "And I appreciate it. I think I'll be able to handle it. If not…I'll make sure I'll leave before anything happens."

"Good plan," Olyvia said.

Heading back upstairs, Olyvia asked her younger sister if she was expecting anyone else from their Avengers group to be there.

"Oh yeah, Tony will be there, of course," Rosemary said.

Olyvia brought the palm of her hand to her forehead, "You know, you suck at this thing called 'informing others of what is going on.' When do you expect him to be here?"

"Around five…ish," Rosemary replied, "You know Tony, can't really depend on him to arrive when he says he will."

Steve agreed wholeheartedly with that.

"As long as he doesn't crash the graduation by arriving in the middle of it in his Iron Man suit," Olyvia said.

"I doubt he'd do that," Rosemary said.

Both sisters and their husbands rolled their eyes at that. They knew Stark would do something like that, if he felt so inclined.

As noon rolled around, the kitchen was once again crowded as people made themselves lunch. Rosemary finally found her white graduation gown, stuffed far back into her closet so it was in desperate need of ironing which her mother went to work on after eating lunch herself. It was in the late afternoon that Rosemary started getting herself ready, Olyvia helping her out with putting up her hair and testing out how to attach her graduation cap so the wind wouldn't blow it off, because the wind was always horrible the day of graduation.

"Do you have to use so many bobby pins?" Rosemary complained as Olyvia shoved another into her scalp, making her flinch.

"Yes," Olyvia replied, "Do you want to lose your cap?"

"You could stick magnets on my head you're using so many! Not to mention you're hurting me."

"Oh suck it up, they don't hurt that bad."

Rosemary rolled her eyes, "Why are we even bothering doing this now? I'll be leaving in a few hours, not now."

"I'm testing to see what works best," Olyvia replied.

Rosemary shook her head, pulling off the cap and sending dozens of bobby pins to the floor, "Figure it out later, I have better stuff to do."

Olyvia reached out to grab her sister, but she teleported away before she could get a hand on her. With a disgruntled growl, Olyvia chased after her sister who appeared outside the bathroom doorway, then disappeared again, reappearing at the end of the hall.

"I am not finished with you yet Midget!" Olyvia shouted as she gave pursuit, waving the cap around in air.

"Now what is going on?" Steve asked, poking his head around the corner Rosemary disappeared around.

"Grab the Midget for me would you love?" Olyvia asked, "I need to figure out how to keep the stupid cap on her head."

"Uh…," Steve left for a brief moment before coming around the corner as Olyvia reached it, grabbing onto his wife's arms to stop her from running into him, "She's gone already."

Olyvia sighed, "Fine then, if she loses her cap during the ceremony, it's her fault."

Steve smiled and brushed her bangs away from her eyes, "You're making this a bigger deal than it really is. I don't know why, but you are so you really just need to step back, and breathe for moment."

Taking in a deep breath, she held it for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. Steve then noticed her eyes started looking a little watery before she leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"I can't believe she's graduating," Olyvia said quietly, "It feels like it was just yesterday she was just a tiny little toddler following after Dianne and me. Now she's…just about a grown woman. Still small, but…eighteen! And graduating! I feel so old!"

Wrapping his arms around her, Steve gave her a consoling hug as he kissed the top of her head, "You feel old?"

"Okay, bad choice of words," Olyvia muttered, pulling back to look up at Steve, "But still, time has just flown by and she's going to be leaving for college in just a few months. I feel like I'll see her even less now."

"That's just a part of life, but you'll still see your sister," Steve said, "So you shouldn't worry about that."

Olyvia nodded, smiling up at him as she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. Steve wouldn't let her get away with such a short one though, and kissed her again. Olyvia wrapped her arms around Steve's waist, only to feel the cap be ripped away from her hands, so she pulled away from Steve to look around his shoulder to see Rosemary.

"Mine!" she exclaimed before disappearing again.

As tempted as she was to try to catch her, she didn't want to leave the warmth and comfort of being in Steve's arms so she just shook her head before snuggling up to Steve.

"Whatever, I'm too comfortable to chase now. I'll get her later."

Smiling, Steve pulled his wife in for another kiss.

* * *

It was just about time for the family to head to the high school for the graduation when Stark arrived at the house to offer his congratulations and well wishes to Rosemary beforehand so he wouldn't have to fight with a crowd to do later. Olyvia finally got her hands on her sister again after the Midget and Stark got through with their hello, which involved a lot of talking and hugs, and with Dianne's help, Olyvia and her older sister got the cap to stay on Rosemary's head. As they escorted Rosemary to the car, Steve stayed behind to talk with Stark.

"So I heard you and Pepper are engaged."

"Yeah…we're engaged," Stark replied, "What about it?"

"Just want to offer my congratulations," Steve said, "Married life is better than you may think."

"Sounds like someone has adjusted well to the change," Stark said, "Enjoy having no more rules in regards to your sex life?"

And that was the sort of comment Steve was expecting, but it still made him blush, "That is none of your business."

"Like I'd want to know anyway," Stark said, "I just want to tease."

Doing his best to not get all riled up as Stark aimed to do, Steve went to catch up with his wife, who was placing a fleece blanket into the back of her parent's vehicle.

"A blanket? Will we really need one?"

"Not us, Rosemary," Olyvia replied, "She's going to stay at the high school all night for their sober graduation party…thing, and believe it or not, it can get rather chilly at night during the summer. I'm making sure she's all covered…literally. Was that a pun? I don't know if it was a pun. I don't want to turn into my dad!"

Steve chuckled, "You're being silly again."

"But that's why you love me," Olyvia said, shutting the back door and grabbing Steve's hand as she headed over to his truck that they drove down in, "Now let's go."

* * *

Even though the family had arrived relatively early, parking was still a nightmare. Allen and Brenda dropped Rosemary off at the school before finding their parking spot, and once everyone had found one, met up back at the school before heading to the football field. Both Dianne and Olyvia were very excited to point out buildings and other areas pertinent to their own high school lives to their spouses. Things had changed slightly in the four to five years they had been gone, but overall it was still the same.

"Wow, this place feels tiny," Olyvia commented as they waited in the line trying to get through the entryway leading to the field since just about everyone would stop at the booth there to get a graduation program, which slowed it down a bit. Not to mention there were a lot of people trying to get in.

"A lot smaller than college, that's for sure," Dianne added.

"My university dwarfs this place five times over," Olyvia said, "It seemed so much bigger four years ago."

"It is rather small," Steve said, "Compared to the high school I attended in Brooklyn."

"Well, you were in the city not a itsy-bisty, teeny-weeny—."

"Yellow polka-dot bikini?" Dianne said in confusion.

Olyvia glared at her sister, but continued on with what she was saying before, "tiny, _rural_ town. So I'd expect a city high school to be bigger. Bet though they still had the cheap, hard wood bleachers, especially way back then."

Steve groaned, "Ugh, sitting. So not looking forward to that. I'm still feeling sore."

"Regretting going on that ride?"

"Maybe just a little?"

Olyvia laughed and leaned into Steve, wrapping one arm around his waist as she whispered in his ear, "You know, if you need a massage or something, I think I might be able to help once we get back home."

Again, Steve couldn't keep himself from blushing, "You, my dear, are starting to turn into a Tony Stark."

"Oh as if you don't enjoy it," Olyvia rebutted, taking a step back and dropping her arm to place her hands on her hips, "And need I remind you, at home, you're sort of worse."

"What now?" Stark asked, turning around to stare in surprise at the couple, having overheard the tail end of their conversation.

"I am so not hearing this," Dianne groaned, "La-la-la-la!"

"And I'm not understanding this, but I don't want to," Loki added.

Steve's face was now a bright red as he turned away from the others, and Olyvia couldn't help but laugh a little by how embarrassed he was.

"Olyvia Harris? Is that you?"

Hearing her name, well, her old name, she turned around to see who was talking to her, only to have her stomach sink, all the way down to her feet. Great, she was hoping to avoid these people. Standing just a few people behind her, and making their way forward, was a thin, fake blond girl with a pretty face that was caked with makeup, but Olyvia knew she had a nasty personality. She was one of her old classmates who gave her hell all through elementary and high school.

"Chelsea, hi," Olyvia said with fake pleasantry, "You know someone graduating?"

"A few, but mostly I just came to check out the guys," Chelsea replied, "I hardly recognized you, you're looking great. No longer that dorky looking geek anymore. Looks like you've lost weight too."

Olyvia frowned. Of course she would have to toss in an insult. Though she had to admit she did lose some weight, but that was from months of intense training and it wasn't like she needed to lose it anyway. Regardless, Olyvia wanted to punch her.

"Thanks…I guess," Olyvia said tersely.

It was then Chelsea noticed something, on Olyvia's hand, "Oh, you're married?"

"Yes, eight months ago," Olyvia replied.

"And you're not preggers so that means it wasn't a shotgun wedding," Chelsea said, "Unless… you already had the kid."

Okay, that was it, Olyvia was going to hit this bitch. As she tightened her hand into a fist, Steve turned back to his wife, wrapping an arm over her shoulders seeing how tense she had become.

"Are you alright Livy?"

The look on Chelsea's face as she realized the hot guy was Olyvia's husband was priceless, and so worth _not_ breaking it in with her fist, though it was still very tempting.

"Yes," Olyvia replied a little smugly, "Just fine."

"Your husband I assume?" Chelsea asked, stepping a little closer, "Are you going to introduce us?"

Olyvia bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying something rude, or just cussing her out, and taking a breath said, "This is my husband Steve Rogers. Steve, this is an old classmate, Chelsea Newton."

"A friend of yours?" Steve asked.

"Just a classmate," Olyvia replied under her breath.

Steve nodded in acknowledgement before holding out a hand to Chelsea, who was looking at him flirtatiously. Seriously, this girl was just begging to be hit.

"So what did Olyvia do to get a guy like you?" Chelsea asked, "Put a bag over her head?"

Steve ripped his hand away from hers, looking at her in disgust.

"Might do you some good," Steve said before turning Olyvia back around as he did as well.

As much as Olyvia wanted to turn back around to see the look on Chelsea's face, she resisted, not wanting to rub it in even more with the smirk on her face. She was better than that. At least, that was what she was telling herself at that moment.

"Oh my god, you are so fucking rude," Chelsea said, "Are you going to let your husband insult me like that?"

Now Olyvia turned around, but only her head and just enough to see her, "Uh yeah. Payback's a bitch isn't it?"

Facing forward again, Olyvia let out a content sigh. She felt so much better now, standing up to one of the bullies who walked all over her during her school years. Even though she could have stood up to them back then, and handed their asses to them, she just didn't have the confidence to do it. Now though, she had more than the guts to do it. _But_ she wasn't going to resort to violence, just stand her ground. She just needed to keep telling herself that to prevent hitting anyone.

Not hearing another peep from Chelsea, thank goodness, they finally made their way to the bleachers and found a seat.

"I'm surprised at you Steve," Olyvia commented as they sat down, "Never thought you'd insult a woman."

"She insulted my wife," Steve said, "I wasn't about to let her get away with that."

Olyvia smiled, "Well, I appreciate you sticking by my side."

"Always," Steve said, "And you're far prettier than her anyway."

Olyvia continued to smile and gave Steve a quick peck on the lips. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world to have him as her husband, her best friend.

More people flooded in as the time passed until it became just a trickle as the time came closer to the start of the ceremony. Loki, Steve, Bruce, and Stark were quite baffled at how windy it was too, wondering how the students were ever going to keep their caps on. Stark even made a comment to Olyvia that perhaps they should have stapled Rosemary's to her hair.

Once the music of Pomp and Circumstance began playing the crowd quieted down somewhat, and the students began walking from either side of the bleachers, joining together beneath the 2014 sign in the middle of the football field and making their way to their seats.

"Any way to tell where Rosemary is?" Loki asked as more students made their way out.

"Look for the shortest one?" Stark suggested.

"They're all just about that short," Dianne and Olyvia said in unison, Olyvia adding, "This is the shortest group of seniors I have ever seen. And they just keep getting shorter by the year!"

"Now that is just…sad," Bruce commented.

"We'll probably notice her when she meets up with Juan in the middle, because it'll be the shortest kid with the tallest one in the class," Dianne said mostly to her husband.

Loki smiled, "Now that's quite humorous. Can't wait to see it myself."

"Does she carry around a stool so she can kiss him or something?" Stark asked.

"Aaaah! La-la-la, I don't want to think of my little sister kissing someone," Olyvia complained, slapping her hands over her ears.

"Look, there she is!" their mother exclaimed, pointing out her youngest daughter as she just about skipped to the sign.

Sure enough, it was her, and linked arms with her boyfriend at the year sign before they walked down to their seats. After a few minutes, all were seated and the ceremony began. The national anthem was sung, then a speech was given by the valedictorian. Finally, it came time for the students to be handed their diplomas. The whole family cringed as crowds of families screamed for their kid, relative, whichever the case being. Of course, when Rosemary was called forward to get her diploma, Brenda, Dianne, and Olyvia all whistled and hollered for her, nearly knocking the guys over from their lung power. Then it was "mosh pit time" as Olyvia put it as everyone in the stands went down to find their graduating kid, offer congratulations and take pictures. Seeing the crowd, both Stark and Banner said goodbye, saying they'd meet up with them at the car because they weren't going to brave the sea of people. Olyvia held Steve's hand the whole time they searched for Rosemary, and finally found her after a few minutes of weaving their way around and through people. They didn't stay long, only enough to take a few pictures and the parents taking her diploma so they could bring it home, because Rosemary was eager to get in line to get into sober grad, which first involved her having to wait in line at the girl's bathroom in order to change out of her dress.

"I remember all too fondly this process," Olyvia said as she and Steve headed back to the truck after saying goodbye to Rosemary, "But definitely worth it. Sober grad was so fun."

"I'll take your word for it," Steve said.

"Race you home!" Dianne called out as she hurried past her sister and brother-in-law, dragging Loki behind her.

"Right, going at a snail's pace with this traffic, so totally going to do that!" Olyvia shouted back.

Steve looked over to the parking lot where cars were turned every which way trying to nose their way in to the line of traffic crawling its way out of the parking lot and groaned. This was going to be _fun!_ Not.

* * *

A half hour later, the family had finally made it home, Stark and Bruce saying goodbye again and hopping in their cars before leaving. The rest headed into the living room to sit down and relax for a while. Steve couldn't help but sigh in content as he sat down on the couch. It felt so cushy and good, it was great, compared to the hard bleachers.

"What a day," Olyvia sighed, flopping down beside her husband.

"I'll say," Brenda agreed.

From where Dianne sat beside Loki in another couch, she looked over to him, and the two had a silent conversation for a few moments, before Loki nodded, and gave her hand a consoling squeeze. Taking a deep breath, Dianne then disrupted the silence.

"So…Mom, Dad, Livy," Dianne began, "And Steve of course. Not meaning to steal the spotlight from Rosemary with her graduating and all, but Loki and I have something we want to tell you."

The others sat up a little more as they turned their attention to Dianne. Olyvia wondered what it could be that she wanted to tell them. She looked over to Loki for a brief moment before looking back to the rest of them, a big smile on her face.

"I'm pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

**I am SO SORRY for taking FOREVER to update this STORY! So no I didn't die. Even though I know excuses will not do, here are mine. 1)I have no internet at my house. 2) I had finals I was studying for and the end of the semester was also the end of reliable internet. 3) I was working on two Christmas short stories with LokixDianne (**_**A Midgardian Christmas**_**) and StevexOlyvia (**_**All I Want For Christmas is you**_**)****so those were up before Christmas. Check them out, there will be a few references from those in the story. (Of course I don't know how many people actually READ THIS to know there are SHORT STORIES! Maybe the all caps help…I don't know.) Anyway…having no internet I was able to get ahead with the chapters so…next time I have internet I'll update again. Please don't hurt me! oh and 4) FREAKING SNOW STORMS! Can't go anywhere! Aieee! Hate the snow.**

**Larryeneno: Yeah that did kind of sound like the end of a T.V show…but yes, your questions will be answered. Eventually. (Though I will tell you now, I don't plan on Stark getting cold feet.)**

**Lollypops101: Thank you! And thanks for the suggestion with the notification, I did do that…weeks ago…when this chapter was still a work in progress. Anyway! Read, enjoy, review!**

**MorWolfMor: I figured people would figure it out, since I did sort of hint at it throughout the chapter with foreshadowing.**

**Aya-Shoru: Yes the family gets bigger, but the plot thickens at the end of this chapter. Oh, and I stole another line from you. Thanks for rambling and giving me dialogue ideas.**

**Dr. Huff-Puff: I couldn't help but put in the sparkly vampire bit. XD Steve sticking up for Livy was very fun to write. And baby! Yay baby! Who doesn't love babies? Well…okay, I know two people, but I digress.**

**Xandrea: Freaking adorable LokixDianne baby. (That's a quasi-line from this chapter, by the way.)**

**nanashi: I hope you didn't spit the water all over your computer. That wouldn't turn out well.**

**harrylee94: Yeah I just about gave it away with Loki fretting. And more explosions! Woohoo! Ahem, anyway…James is coming! Just…calm down, breathe. Slow deep breaths.**

**CHAPTER TWO**

Olyvia's eyes grew wide in shock as she stared numbly at her sister over the news she had just given. Pregnant? She was pregnant? Well, that explained Loki's fretting earlier that day. Her mother let out an ecstatic scream as she got up to hug her daughter, while Dianne's words sunk in for Olyvia and she was overcome with a great sadness. It wasn't because of what was happening to her sister, on the contrary she was very happy for her and Loki that they were expanding their family, but she couldn't help but remember her own predicament, being unable to conceive, and grieve over that fact.

"How far along?" Brenda asked her daughter, completely oblivious to anyone and everyone else in the room.

"Two months," Dianne replied, "I know, I should have told you right away, but I wanted to tell you in person, and Loki and I wanted to wait to be sure it would stick, instead of getting peoples hopes up and find out we miscarried."

"Yes you should have told me right away, but I understand," Brenda said.

"Congratulations Dia," Olyvia said as she slowly got to her feet and began walking to the back door.

"You okay Livy?" Dianne asked.

Olyvia nodded, "Yeah, I just…I'm going to go check on Oscar."

"Livy—," Steve began, standing as well, but Olyvia headed straight to the door and outside without bothering acknowledging she heard her husband.

Walking across the porch, Olyvia headed toward the barn, passing the dogs which caused Oscar to hop to his feet and follow after her. Going inside the barn, she let the door swing shut behind her before walking to the nearest support beam, clutching onto it with her hands as she pressed her forehead against it, taking in deep breaths trying to keep her tears at bay. But it didn't work, and she burst into tears after a few seconds. Why was it she couldn't have that happiness herself? Due to being told it was near impossible for her to conceive, she and Steve had been trying since they married, but it still just…wasn't happening. She doubted she'd ever have children. Poor Steve, she felt so sorry for him, he so desperately wanted a family, it was something they talked about often so she knew that was how he felt, and she couldn't give it to him.

She spent a few minutes crying when she heard the door open behind her so she tried to stop her sobbing, but failed.

"I'm sorry," she heard Dianne say, "I should have known better."

"It's not like you would have been able to keep it a secret from me," Olyvia said, turning around to face her sister, wiping the tears away from her face, "And I am happy for you Dianne, really I am. I'm just…"

"Sad that you can't have kids," Dianne finished for her, her countenance somber.

Olyvia choked on a sob, hiding her face behind a hand as she leaned against the beam to offer herself some support. She felt her sister's arms wrap around her a few seconds later, and Olyvia knew she must have felt really bad for her to hug her.

"How long had you and Loki been trying?" Olyvia dared ask.

Dianne hesitated with her reply, knowing it would hurt even more, but she wanted an answer, "We had only been trying for around three months."

Olyvia sobbed again, and Dianne rubbed her on the back consolingly.

"I'm sure it'll happen for you eventually Livy," Dianne said, "It's not…completely impossible right?"

Olyvia shrugged, "That's what Bruce said so Steve and I are clinging to that hope."

Dianne patted her on the back, "Then I will pray and hope along with you so that you may also have the joy of having your own children."

"Until then, you and Loki better give Steve and I plenty of nieces and/or nephews to dote upon," Olyvia said, wiping more tears away from her face.

Taking a step back, Dianne scoffed, "Ha-ha, no. You're just going to have to be okay with one for now."

Olyvia's lips spread into a smile, "I can live with that."

"So…feeling better?"

"A little."

"Then I'm going to head back inside and give Steve his turn."

Olyvia looked at her sister in confusion as she left until Steve entered. That was what she meant. He didn't say anything, just walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. Her tears threatened to spill over again, but this time she was able to hold them back.

"I know it hurts," Steve said quietly after a few moments, "I know you wish it was us with that news."

"Why do all the bad things happen to me?"

"That question sounds familiar," Steve said.

"Because I keep asking it," Olyvia said, turning her head to look up at her husband, "What did I do to deserve all this…suffering?"

"Everything will be okay," Steve assured her, "You've proven you can overcome anything. Maybe this is something that just needs more time."

Olyvia nodded, "I hope you're right."

"We'll keep trying, of course," Steve quickly added, "I mean, there's no reason to stop trying right away."

Olyvia rolled her eyes, her lips spreading into a smile, "Of course. You can't keep yourself away from me for more than a day anyway."

"No, I can't," Steve admitted, "How can I stay away from someone so amazing?"

"You know, you weren't gifted with Loki's silver tongue," Olyvia chuckled.

"As long as I can get one of these," he said, tracing the outline of her lips that were still curled up in a loving smile, "That's all that really matters."

* * *

Rosemary was ecstatic hearing the news the following morning when she arrived back at the house, being as enthusiastic as one possibly could be while dead tired. After saying how excited she was to be an aunt, and offered congratulations, she drug herself to bed where she slept until noon. Even having five to six hours of sleep, she was still rather tired and a bit of a grouch as she joined the others downstairs.

Dianne and Olyvia spent a few more days there with their family before it was time to head to their homes again. Loading Oscar into the truck, Olyvia and Steve left first after having one last lunch with the family since they had the longer drive. And with Loki being the worry-wart he was, he would be driving home so that Dianne could relax and be comfortable. Dianne didn't mind, since her back was really bothering her and would be squirming around a lot anyway. They were ten minutes out of town by the time she had found a comfortable position, and was no longer preoccupied with finding a comfy spot so she could talk.

"Is it wrong that I'm feeling a little guilty for being pregnant?" Dianne asked her husband.

"Because of Olyvia's predicament?"

"Yeah…I mean…she is really upset about it. Happy for us, but upset because of not being able to get pregnant herself…you understand what I'm saying?"

Loki nodded, "She's more upset with herself rather than us."

"Exactly," Dianne said, "And it's too bad, I bet she and Steve would make cute babies."

"And what about us?" Loki asked indignantly.

"We're going to make freaking adorable babies, that's what," Dianne said, "If I don't puke them out first, pull over please, I'm going to throw up."

Finding the nearest turnout area, Loki pulled over and Dianne stepped out of the car and over to the brush to lose her lunch. After a minute or so, she got back into the car and proceeded to squirm around to find her comfy spot as Loki pulled back onto the road.

"You know, you can't puke out a baby," Loki said.

"Well this one is sure trying," Dianne groaned, "Ugh, morning sickness sucks."

* * *

Olyvia was glad to be back home in Ashland, not that she didn't love her hometown in California, but she had missed her own home, and her cat. She really hoped Whisper hadn't used the couch as her scratching post, she had five of them around the house anyway to try preventing that. Letting Oscar out of the truck, he ran straight to the door and plopped his butt down, his tail wagging wildly as he waited impatiently for his owners to open the door and let him in.

Steve grabbed the luggage before Olyvia could snag it, so she headed to the door to unlock it. As her key slid in, she could hear Whisper meowing loudly and incessantly on the other side of the door. Opening it, Oscar was the first through, bowling Whisper over who let out a disgruntled cat squawk. Realizing he just stepped on his "younger sibling" Oscar ran back over and nudged her with his nose in apology only to have Whisper swipe her paw at him.

"And already they're bickering," Olyvia chuckled.

"Reminds me of you and your siblings," Steve commented.

"That took about an hour when Dianne showed up," Olyvia retorted, "It wasn't immediate."

Steve just shrugged and headed to the bedroom to drop off the luggage. Meanwhile, Olyvia went to take care of the litter box and check the cat's food. Her chores took longer than Steve's, and when she returned to the living room, he was lounging on the couch. Taking a seat beside him, she cozied up next to him, the two wrapping their arms around each other.

"So there was a message left on that S.H.I.E.L.D pager…thingy or whatever you call it."

"Pager thingy, yeah, what about?" Olyvia asked.

"Fury needs us for something," he replied.

"Did he say what it was exactly we are needed for?"

"No."

Olyvia sighed, "Of course not. And where are we supposed to go? The helicarrier? How does he expect us to get to there anyway if that's the case? It's not like we know where it is or could fly there ourselves."

Steve shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe an agent will show up to get us. They tend to do that. Appear randomly and out of nowhere."

Their conversation died off there, and Olyvia cozied up closer to Steve as she just relished the moment, letting her eyes scan the room as she took in the surroundings of their home. She had spent a few weeks after their honeymoon making it feel homey, since Steve had little in the way of decorative contributions to put up before she moved in. They now had wedding pictures up on the walls, along with some pictures taken on their honeymoon in Hawaii, one being the memorial at Pearl Harbor. She was once again reminded of Steve's true age when he shared his experience of hearing the news first hand of the bombing of the Navy Base.

"I love you," Steve whispered into her ear before pressing his lips against it.

Olyvia smiled, "I love you too, now what do you want?"

"I can't tell my wife I love her without having ulterior motives?" Steve asked.

"Well do you?"

"No…well…maybe a little something," Steve said, and Olyvia laughed, "but really I felt like I haven't said it enough today."

Olyvia craned her head back in order to look up into Steve's face, "So what was that little something you wanted?"

Bending his head down, Steve pressed his lips gently against hers, hardly ghosting over her skin. The feather light kiss was unexpected, and sent a little thrill down Olyvia's spine. Though they had both become accustomed to each other's kisses, there were still a few that sent that electric feeling through the both of them.

"Dinner?" Steve asked with a crooked grin when he pulled away.

Olyvia scoffed indignantly, "Oh, I see how it is, being your little housewife."

"You are anything, but little," Steve said, earning a critically raised eyebrow from his wife, "Not fat! You know I did _not_ mean it like that."

"I'm just messing with you," Olyvia smiled, and planted a firm kiss on his lips before getting up and heading to the kitchen, "What do you want?"

Steve followed her with his gaze as she retreated, and now he wanted something else entirely, to skip dinner and go straight to dessert. His grumbling stomach told his second brain it needed to wait for that so he could have the proper energy for other physical pursuits.

"Food," Steve replied, earning a blank stare from his wife, "I really don't care, make something you will eat."

"Burritos it is then."

Olyvia busied herself in the kitchen while Steve continued to lounge on the couch for a few more minutes before Oscar came running over to him with a rope toy in his mouth, wanting to play. Steve grabbed it and played tug-of-war with the dog for a while before letting the dog win, since in reality the dog never could with him being a super soldier. Oscar whipped the toy around his head as he shook it, before doing his victory lap around the couch, into the kitchen to show it off to mommy, before coming back to Steve for another bout. Steve and Oscar continued with this ritual until dinner was done and Oscar was completely wiped out. Steve joined his wife at the dinner table, and just a few minutes into the meal, he noticed how glum she looked.

"Livy…you feeling okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," she replied with a sigh.

"That didn't sound convincing."

Olyvia sighed again, "Sorry, I'm just…putting myself in a depressed mood by thinking about Dianne's pregnancy."

"It'll happen for us eventually, I'm sure," Steve said, "But there really isn't any reason to dwell on this, I don't want you making yourself depressed."

"I want children Steve," Olyvia said, "I really want children, but I have this…sick feeling in my gut telling me it's never going to happen. It's not easy to ignore."

Scooting his chair closer to hers, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest, holding her consolingly. Bending his head down, he pressed his lips against the crown of her head.

"I want children too," Steve said, "And I think we will, when we're ready. We might not be just yet."

Olyvia sighed sorrowfully. She thought they were ready. They were financially stable, they had a house, it _felt_ right, but it just didn't feel like it would happen.

Moving his head so he could see Olyvia's face, Steve's brow crumpled seeing her despondent countenance. He moved a hand so he could cup her chin, caressing ever so gently with his thumb as he wished he could think of something that would put a smile back on her face. Then it came to him.

"You know, just hoping for a child isn't going to do much," Steve said, "There are other things required to have a child."

Olyvia snorted, her mouth twitching upwards as she rolled her eyes. At least that was better than nothing.

"Well that's an improvement," Steve said, brushing his thumb over the corner of her lips.

She smiled a little wider, turning her face up towards his and gave him a kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too. Now finish up your dinner," Steve said, leaning back more onto his seat, "Then I can see what I can do about your lack of a baby problem."

Again, Olyvia rolled her eyes, "You my dear are starting to act more like Tony Stark each passing day."

Steve opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but then closed it again, unable to think of anything _to_ say after that comment. So instead he went back to his dinner, making Olyvia laugh seeing as he couldn't deny it. She went back to her finishing off her meal as well, and once finished stayed in her chair, sliding down and leaning her head back so she was comfortable as she relaxed. Steve finished a few minutes later, and took both their plates to the sink when she spoke up again.

"So how do you think Fury will react when Dianne tells him she's pregnant?"

* * *

Dianne was not pleased to find a message from Fury needing her for an assignment right as she got home. Not only did she not want to go anywhere now that she had just arrived at her house, his request was extremely vague! What was the assignment? Was she supposed to meet up with the others? _Where_ was she supposed to meet the others if that were the case? The helicarrier? How did he expect her to get there? Fly? And what about Loki? Wasn't he part of the team now? She guessed Fury was hoping to avoid letting Loki get involved.

"Absolutely not!" Loki exclaimed, hearing the message, "You are not going anywhere! I will not have him endanger our child by having you get involved in a mission."

"I don't plan on going anywhere Loki," Dianne said, cupping her husband's face and staring into his emerald eyes, "I'm not that stupid. I'm sure he won't put me on any mission once I tell him, so just calm down. I doubt he is _that_ heartless. A little heartless, yes, but not that much."

"I think you give him too much credit," Loki muttered.

Dianne shrugged, letting her hands drop back to her sides, "Yes well it's not like I'd be able to do much. Seriously, I'm going to start getting my belly soon, not only would I look funny in a suit, if I could even fit into one, I would only get in the way."

"So…you're still going to go?" Loki asked.

"I have to talk to Fury sometime, to let him know," Dianne replied, "How I'm going to get there… well, that's all on him because I have no clue where the base is."

"Yes, well Director Fury hasn't really proven he can plan things out properly."

"I think he just likes being vague."

"That too," Loki agreed.

* * *

It was a few days later that there was a knock on Dianne and Loki's door, which he answered. A shorter man with tanned skin, a bald head and wire rimmed glasses wearing a black suit stood in the doorway, and Loki was tempted to slam the door shut right away, but he decided to wait to first hear what the man would say.

"I'm Agent Sitwe—."

All Loki had to hear was agent, and he slammed the door shut and locked it. Spinning on his heel he headed back into the living room where Dianne was playing a video game.

"Who was it?" Dianne asked, not even glancing up at Loki since her eyes were glued to the screen.

"A salesman," Loki lied. He felt it would be better, safer, for Dianne to just stay home so if she didn't know an agent was at the door, she might not go.

Dianne laughed, "No wonder you slammed the door."

Not a few seconds later though, there was another knock.

"Sounds persistent," Dianne commented.

"Very," Loki growled, glaring at the door, "Ignore him, he'll go away eventually."

The knocking stopped soon afterwards, but then a minute later, they heard the door shut.

"Did you lock the door?" Dianne asked, slightly panicked.

"I did," Loki replied, turning back towards the entryway, only to find the agent there, "How did you get in here!"

"Getting into places people don't want me to be is part of my training," the agent replied, "I'm Agent Sitwell, I'm here to escort Agent Harris—sorry, Agent—."

"Don't call me agent, call me Dianne," Dianne said, getting to her feet and crossing her arms across her chest as she glared at him.

"Very well, Dianne, I'm here to take you to the helicarrier," Agent Sitwell said.

"What about my husband?"

Sitwell looked over to Loki, who was glowering at him, and Dianne could practically see death waves coming off of him. He _really_ didn't want her going anywhere without him, and she couldn't blame him in this situation.

"Just give me a moment," Sitwell replied before heading back outside.

Once the door shut behind him, Loki locked it again, and then used magic to seal it shut.

"You really don't want me to go," Dianne said in amusement.

"I don't trust Fury," Loki replied.

Walking over to him, Dianne draped her arms around his neck in a loose hug, "Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere without you."

Loki was glad to hear it, and lowered his head to give his wife a kiss. He didn't stop at just one though, and spent a few minutes giving his wife the affection he felt she deserved to get at the moment. He was disrupted though when he heard Sitwell's voice.

"Director Fury said it was alright for Loki to accompany you," Sitwell said, standing on the living room side of their entryway.

"How did you get in?" Loki asked irritably.

"You have a back door."

Loki growled under his breath, and Dianne was pretty sure she heard a few colorful words escape his lips.

"Are we expected to be away long?" she asked Sitwell.

"You shouldn't be," Sitwell replied.

Dianne raised an eyebrow, "What is that supposed to mean."

"It means, depending on what happens at the briefing, you might not have to stay long."

"Ah, well then I'll just go pack my overnight bag," Dianne said, grabbing Loki by the hand as she started heading toward the bedroom, "Come on Loki, we have a trip to pack for."

* * *

Olyvia really didn't miss the helicarrier. Being back on it, she had already gotten lost, and that was with following Clint. Luckily she had Steve right there to grab her and steer her in the right direction before she lost them both. They were taken to the conference room, where Fury, Natasha, Rosemary and surprisingly Stark, were already there.

"We must be _really_ late if Stark is already here," Olyvia commented as she took a seat, earning a glare from the billionaire.

"I've been here for the past _week_," Stark rebutted, "So yes, you are really late."

"Well we were still on vacation when Director Fury called," Steve said, sitting down next to his wife, "We didn't get it until we got home."

"Excuses," Stark grumbled.

"You're just upset that Fury called you in first in order to get you to arrive on time," Natasha quipped, "Then forced you to stay until everyone else arrived."

The billionaire grumbled under his breath again, crossing his arms as he began to pout. Clint went to stand beside his fellow assassin, a grimace on his face.

"What's the matter with you?" Natasha asked.

"One word, newlyweds," Clint replied.

Natasha smirked, "How long did you have to wait?"

"I got impatient, and now I'm regretting it."

Natasha burst into laughter, surprising everyone since they had never heard her laugh like that before.

"Keep in mind for next time that there are some things you can't rush."

"I am _not_ getting them next time," Clint grumbled.

Rosemary got up from her seat to greet her sister and brother-in-law, who were handed tablets a few minutes later to look over information in relation to whatever Fury called them in for while they waited for others to arrive, namely Dianne, Loki and Bruce, that was if Bruce was even found to be brought in. They weren't waiting too long though before Dianne and Loki were brought in, and by an agent whose face was unfamiliar to them.

"Thank you Agent Sitwell," Fury said, receiving a nod from the bald man before he turned and headed out of the room.

Olyvia got up from her seat and fast-walked over to her sister before throwing her arms around her in a hug before she could protest.

"Ack! What are you doing? I saw you four days ago! Get off!" Dianne exclaimed, "There is no need for this! It's completely unnecessary! Loki! Get her off!"

"I'm your sister, I can't hug you?" Olyvia asked, taking a step back before Loki could make her move.

Dianne narrowed her eyes at her sister, a low growl escaping her throat.

"Good to see you too," Olyvia said sarcastically.

"If you three could sit down, we can get started," Fury said.

"What about Bruce?" Olyvia asked as she returned to her seat.

"Dr. Banner is already here, he's already been briefed because I have him working on something else at the moment," Fury replied.

Olyvia's mouth formed an "o" shape, not emitting any sort of sound, before picking up her tablet again and waking it up so she could see the screen again. The information in the files only confused her. All she could discern was that there was a group called A.I.M , and they were apparently causing trouble. She couldn't even find what A.I.M stood for. Then again, she didn't exactly read through everything, she just scanned over it all.

"We have been monitoring activity from a group called Advanced Idea Mechanics," Fury began, and Olyvia let out a long "Oh" hearing the extension of the anagram, "S.H.I.E.L.D has been since they first formed during World War II, but for a long time they had remained under the radar. Until within the last year, they have shown increasing activity. They've also been shadowing some of you."

Fury looked over to Steve and Olyvia, then to Loki and Dianne.

"Wait, us?" Steve asked.

"For some reason they seem highly interested in you four," Fury said, "I'm judging by your reaction that you had no clue someone has been following you for the last sixteen months."

Olyvia gawked at the Director, her eyes looking like they were about to fall out of her skull, "Sixteen months! That's a long—wait a second, how do you know someone has been following us? You must have had others following us to figure out there was someone else who was doing the following. Don't like having competition for the stalking huh?"

"You are my agents, I keep an eye on all of you," Fury replied.

"Must be hard to do, with one eye," Olyvia muttered.

"Oh that was a good one," Stark said, holding up a hand to her so she could give him a high-five, which she did, having to lean over a few seats in order to do so.

"So you brought us here just to tell us we have stalkers?" Dianne asked, "And could someone get me orange juice? I want orange juice."

Fury gave her an odd look, before replying, "I brought you here because we believe we found one of their bases, and I aim to stop them before they can do any harm."

"You aim to stop A.I.M?" Olyvia asked with a grin.

Now everyone was giving her that "really?" look. Except Steve, he just dropped his head into a hand with a groan.

"Sorry," Olyvia muttered, her cheeks flushing red with all the attention on her, "I blame my dad. His puns have rubbed off on me. Continue."

"We believe they may have a base in the Gulf," Fury went on, "We'll be sending you to the location to check it out, see what you can find."

"The gulf?" Rosemary asked, finally speaking up, "You mean as in…the Gulf of Mexico? Are we going to Mexico?"

"The location is in the file," Fury said, "It's near the Florida coast."

"Ooh! We get to go to Florida!" Rosemary said excitedly, "I've never been to Florida."

Olyvia flipped through the file's pages before finding the map, and let out a whimper, "Sharks."

"Oh right…ocean," Rosemary muttered.

"Someone afraid of sharks?" Stark asked.

"Who isn't?" Olyvia snapped.

"Didn't you go to Hawaii for your honeymoon?" Stark asked in confusion.

"She didn't go into the ocean deeper than her mid-calf," Steve said, "She's deathly afraid of them."

"You know the chances of you actually being attacked by a shark are less than being hit by lightning right?" Stark asked.

"I don't care," Olyvia snapped.

"You have a half hour to get ready," Fury said, "Agent Barton and Romanoff will fly you down via quinjet. We will not tolerate tardiness."

He seemed to be directing that comment towards Stark, who just ignored him. Loki glanced over to Dianne with a panicked expression, and she nodded before raising her hand to try to get Fury's attention.

"Um…Director Fury," she said, "Director Fury, I have an enquiry."

"Yes?"

"What is your policy on maternity leave?"

Fury's eye grew wide in shock while Stark, Clint and Natasha all whipped their heads around to look at her, equally as surprised as Fury. Olyvia snorted in laughter seeing Fury's reaction. Now _that_ was priceless.

"What, what now?" Stark squeaked.

"Uh…come again?" Fury asked.

"I'm two months pregnant Director," Dianne said, "And since my job entails putting my life in danger, I'm going have to refuse going on this mission. I am not going to put my child at risk."

"That is…perfectly understandable," Fury said, still quite shocked over the news, "You may…stay here then until the others return."

"Thank you, I'll do that," Dianne said.

"Wait, _pregnant_?" Stark questioned, "Y-you're pregnant?"

Dianne rolled her eyes, "Yes Stark, I'm pregnant."

Stark looked over to Loki, "So the Asgardian Prince is to be a daddy then."

Loki shot a glare at Stark, though his heart swelled at the word 'daddy'. He couldn't wait to be a father and he was going to be a better one than Odin was to him for the first couple thousand years of his life. Wow…thinking that made him sound really old.

Dianne turned her attention from Stark back to Fury, "So…about my orange juice."

* * *

"I can't do it," Olyvia whimpered, clutching onto her seat in the quinjet.

"We're on solid land, you can get out of the jet," Stark said in exasperation. He along with everyone else on the team was trying to convince Olyvia to let go of her chair and get her butt out of the jet so they could get on with the mission.

"I know where we're going, and I can't do it," Olyvia argued, "Just leave me behind."

Stark threw up his hands in frustration as he walked away, "You convince her Rogers, she's your wife."

With a sigh, Steve headed back inside the quinjet and knelt down next to her, placing a consoling hand on her back, "Livy, there isn't anything to be afraid of."

"Sharks," she bemoaned.

"We aren't going to be swimming," Steve said.

"We're going to be taking a subaquatic vehicle," Natasha added, "Stark helped with building it. We'll be perfectly safe."

Olyvia shook her head, "I can't do it."

"Yes you can," Steve said, "The likelihood of even seeing sharks is minimal and we won't be going far. Don't let this get to you."

"Already has," Olyvia said, taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling, "Just thinking about it is giving me a panic attack."

"Livy," Steve said tenderly, cupping her chin and lifting her face to look at him, "I promise you, you'll be just fine. I'll be right next to you, I won't let you get hurt."

She was silent as she debated over this, a few moments later saying, "You promise?"

"I promise."

"Then…okay, I-I'll try."

"Finally, we can get going," Stark sighed in relief.

Olyvia shakily got to her feet and grabbed onto Steve's arm as they walked out of the quinjet. From where they were they could already see the ocean, and her stomach lurched knowing she'd have to go out into it.

"Don't worry Livy," Rosemary said as she walked in step beside her sister, giving her a pat on her shoulder, "It's not like Florida is known for having Great Whites."

"But they have bull sharks and tiger sharks," Olyvia said, breathing heavily as she started to hyperventilate, "And they're just as nasty, if not nastier, at least the bull sharks. They didn't get their name for nothing you know."

Steve sighed in frustration and shot a glare at Rosemary, "Thanks a lot."

"What?" Rosemary asked, completely oblivious to what she had done.

"Just…shut up Midget," Stark said.

"Oh no! Not you too!" Rosemary wailed, "I thought you'd never call me Midget!"

"Grate on my nerves enough, I'll call you worse things," Stark said, "Now get in the sub."

* * *

James watched from his perch above the beach as the team of Avengers, minus one, headed to their oceanic mode of transportation that would take them to the island quite a few miles away. He couldn't help but smirk in amusement seeing how frightened Olyvia had become at the prospect of traveling through the ocean. That fear could come in handy.

Using the scope on his rifle, he was able to get a closer look at them all. When the crosshairs landed on the Captain of the group, a feeling of jealousy and anger welled up in his chest. For some reason he felt he recognized the patriotic hero, knew him, but he knew that couldn't be possible, he was only just recently taken out from the cryogenic stasis he had been in, and by a different…thing, than his previous employer. He couldn't call his new employer a human, because he was nowhere near that. James didn't know what to call him. He couldn't remember much before being put in stasis, but from what he did remember, he knew he never knew Captain America. He was presumed dead last he was awake.

James waited until they were in their aquatic device, which took over twenty minutes, due to having to convince Olyvia to get in, and on their way before pulling out a radio.

"They've fallen for it," James said into the mouthpiece, "They're on their way to the island."

"Good," a rather computerized voice sounded in reply, "Dispose as many as you can Winter Soldier."

"Yes sir."


	3. Chapter 3

**So…I'm guessing some of my normal reviewers were rather bitter about me taking a month to update…but anyway, here's the next chapter.**

**harrylee94: Sounds like someone really likes Bucky. I'm not going to say anything in regards to what happens with him because that'd just ruin the story. Guess you'll have to suffer through the long periods of time it takes me to update. (Though with school starting for me this Tuesday, I **_**should**_** be able to update more often. Note how I stress **_**should**_**.)**

**Avalongirl55: I'm going to be mean to someone else this chapter. Partially…a little something does happen to Steve, but I am definitely trying to ease off on my meanness towards the couple.**

**CHAPTER THREE**

Olyvia never felt so afraid in her life. She would rather face down Thanos again, and on her own, rather than be where she was now. Her heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of her chest, and she was feeling very ill and weak. Braving to open her eyes, she looked at her hands. They were shaking violently. Not only was she terrified of sharks, which some would probably say she was overreacting, the noise…it was just unbearable.

"Just keep your eyes closed dearest," Steve said, seeing she had opened her eyes. He and Olyvia were sitting in the back of their special made submarine, his arms wrapped snugly around her while her hands were clutched tightly onto his shoulders. He was starting to get bruises she was holding on so tightly.

"Why is this trip taking so long?" Olyvia asked breathlessly, shutting her eyes again, "I-I can't… handle this much longer. The noise…it's too much."

"Noise?" Steve asked in confusion, it seemed rather quiet to him.

"Sound carries very well through water," Olyvia said, "I'm sensitive to sound and this…this is just killing me."

"Just a few more minutes I'm sure," Steve said, looking up to Clint, "Right?"

Clint nodded, "No more than three."

"Three is too long," Olyvia said, "I want out, and I want to go back home."

"Would you rather we let you out now while we're over a hundred feet under the water?" Natasha asked irritably.

"A hundred feet!" Olyvia exclaimed, her eyes snapping open, and the first thing she saw was the water above them, marine life flying past. Her breathing became faster, and she became paler.

"She's having another panic attack," Bruce said, holding his fingers to her neck to feel her rapid pulse, "I've never seen her have one before today. Does she have a history with anxiety?"

"I don't know."

"Well, has she had these sort of attacks before?"

"This is the first I've seen it," Steve replied.

"Not even when you were at Hawaii?" Stark asked.

"Maybe a little when we took a boat tour around Kauai," Steve said, "Took an hour to convince her to go on. Stayed dead center of the boat until we reached the dock and she practically flew off."

"Then I think this goes further than a simple fear from watching Jaws or something similar," Bruce said, "I bet it mostly has to do with her powers and being hyperaware and sensitive to sound. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"Why couldn't we have just flown to the island?" Olyvia asked.

"Because the entrance to the supposed base is only accessible from underwater, so unless you'd rather have gone scuba diving, this was the only other option," Natasha replied.

Olyvia whimpered, and pressed her face against Steve's chest. Loki, who was sitting just in front of the two and next to Bruce, gave Steve a sympathetic look.

"Mind if I try something to help?" Loki offered.

Steve shrugged, but regretted it as Olyvia's fingers dug even more into him, "I'm willing to try anything now, for her sake."

"And ours," Stark quipped.

Loki reached around and placed his hand on Olyvia's head, and a few seconds later, her grip loosened and she slumped against Steve.

"What'd you do?" Steve asked, checking Olyvia over to be sure Loki hadn't hurt her by accident.

"Put her to sleep," Loki said, "Easiest solution, and when I wake her back up, she won't be as lethargic as one would be coming out from being drugged. Yes Dr. Banner, I saw you rummaging through your medicine bag."

Steve looked over to Bruce, who was putting away said bag, "I was only going to use it as a last resort."

The last few minutes of travel were silent, and Natasha guided the submarine into an underground cavern, following a narrow passageway to a docking station, above water. It had all the signs of being a base, but…it didn't look like it had been used in a _long_ time. Opening up the sub, everyone climbed out, Steve carrying his wife. Once on solid ground, Loki used his magic to wake her.

"Where are we?" Olyvia asked, looking around, "What is this place?"

"We've reached the base," Steve said.

"We're on solid ground now," Stark added.

Olyvia got to her feet, her legs shaking slightly from getting used to holding her weight again, before following the others. Reaching a metal door, Natasha tried opening it, before standing aside and asking Olyvia to do the honors. She ripped the door away, and let the others with the lights through first. It was dark, dank, and actually a little chilly down where they were. Searching the place, they found it was built very much like a lab, with a lot of space for experimentations, and there were even some empty test tubes, beakers, and other materials one would use in a chemistry class. There were also a lot of wires. Lots and lots of wires. Other than that, the place was empty.

"This place has to have been abandoned for years to see this sort neglect," Natasha commented, "There is no way this was used just weeks ago."

"The Director said they saw activity here," Clint said.

"They could have been clearing out the last of their data," Stark said, "JARVIS, found anything with the scan?"

"No sir, all electronics seem to have been removed," JARVIS replied in all their earpieces.

"How does JARVIS know there were even electronics here?" Olyvia asked.

"There are outlets that have seen use from electronic devices," JARVIS replied, "So there were some here. What they were exactly I am unable to determine."

"Well, this seems to have been a bust," Stark said, "Unless you found anything useful Bruce."

"I've taken all the scientific equipment left behind so I can see if there is any trace of what might have been in them, otherwise…not much else here for us," Bruce replied.

Since they all seemed in agreement that it was time to go, they started heading out of the room they were currently in when JARVIS spoke up.

"Sir, I believe I may have found something."

"What is it?" Stark asked.

"In the room furthest south from here," JARVIS replied, "There seems to be a self-sufficient electronic device in the room. It just activated."

Following JARVIS's directions, they headed southward in the hall, thanks to Tony's navigation in his HUD, and they entered the room at the end of that hallway. It was a fairly large room, and they split up as they searched around the tables and portable metal shelves. They were in this room just minutes ago, what could they have missed?

Rosemary was walking around in the corner, her flashlight scanning over everything in front of her when her hip bumped into what looked like a desk, but she heard a crinkling sound. Grabbing onto the desk, she found it was actually a tarp, and a well-designed one at that to have tricked them all into thinking it was a desk. Pulling it off, Rosemary's heart leapt into her throat.

"Uh…guys!" Rosemary shouted to the others as she backed away from what previously was a desk, "Things that have a countdown are usually bad, right?"

That got everyone's attention, and they all ran over to see what Rosemary found. A giant bomb was sitting in the corner, and it had barely over a minute left.

"Not enough time to deactivate it," Stark said, not even bothering with JARVIS running a quick diagnostic to see how long it would take, because Stark knew with how big it was, there wasn't going to be enough time to pull it apart to get where they needed to, to deactivate it, "RUN!"

They didn't have to be told twice, and ran to the door. Stark grabbed Clint and flew out of there while Rosemary grabbed onto Natasha and Loki before teleporting. Steve and Olyvia were fast enough just running that they were able to catch up not long after, Olyvia lagging behind by a few seconds since she wasn't as fast as Steve. At this point, Olyvia was too afraid of being blown up that she didn't give it a second thought as she jumped into the sub and buckled herself in. There was no _guarantee_ they'd run into sharks, but the bomb was going to blow, there were no doubts about that.

Turning the sub around, Natasha tore out of there at the highest speed it could go, coming dangerously close to crashing the sides of the sub into the cavern walls as she turned around corners, but they made it out with just one scratch down the right side. They were free and clear of the island for maybe ten seconds when they heard the rumble of the explosion. Olyvia however, clamped her hands over her ears and cried out in agony as she writhed in her seat.

"Livy!" Steve exclaimed, picking her up before she could slide out from her belt and onto the floor, "Are you alright?"

"Oh I wish I wasn't so hypersensitive to sound," Olyvia said.

"I thought you could control that though," Steve said.

"Not underwater apparently," Olyvia said, "Due to how well it travels through it. I'm okay now though. It's gone. Just a ringing in my ears."

She sat back up in her seat, closed her eyes, and began taking deep breaths. They were in the clear now, all they had to do now was get back to shore, which would only take a few minutes from now. At least that was what she thought, before an unfamiliar sound reached her ears, and she opened her eyes just in time to see what that sound did to the sub. Four large caliber bullets shot through the glass of the sub, one after the other, cracking the glass so that when the fourth went through it broke a huge hole in it and water came rushing in.

"What the hell?" Natasha exclaimed as she pulled the hatch release. That was going to be the only way out now.

Panic clutched at Olyvia's chest as she watched the water pour in for the first millisecond, and she was frozen in her chair until Steve ripped her away from it and swam with her up to the surface.

"Oh my god!" Olyvia exclaimed once she broke through the surface, "What just happened? Oh my god! I'm in the ocean. I am swimming in the ocean."

"Sharks are attracted to fear!" Rosemary shouted.

"Not helping!" Loki scolded.

Stark jetted up into the air, and thanks to everyone having water-proof coms, he was able to keep in contact with them, "Livy, calm down, there is absolutely nothing in sight. You guys can either start swimming, or I can take someone while Rosemary takes the rest of you."

"I can't—I can't calm down," Olyvia said, "I'm freaking out here."

"Livy! Livy, just stop and breathe for a moment," Steve said, swimming over to his wife and grabbing her face so that she would stop flailing around, "We're fine, so breathe, just…breathe."

Olyvia took in a gasping breath, and shakily let it out. As she just finished taking in her second one, Steve cried out in pain as something hit him in the side of his chest, blood flowing out from the wound, the sound of a gunshot echoing through the air just seconds later. Olyvia let out a horrified scream seeing the blood, and then again as Steve slipped under the water. Diving down, she grabbed him and kicked back up to the surface.

"Steve! Steve no! STEVE!" she screamed in his face as she kicked her legs as hard as she could to keep them both above water.

"Livy! Grab hold of me!" Rosemary shouted to her sister as she, Clint, Loki, Bruce and Natasha swam over to them, the four others holding onto one of Rosemary's shoulders or arm.

Olyvia grabbed onto Rosemary's upper arm, and Rosemary then wrapped a hand around Steve's bicep just in case, before looking to the shore, and teleported. They landed in the surf breaking against the beach, and Olyvia drug Steve out of the water and onto the sand before collapsing onto her knees.

"Steve…please be okay Steve," Olyvia rasped, "Don't you dare die on me."

"I-I'm fine Livy," Steve said, moving his right arm across his chest to press his hand against the gaping wound on his left side, "It's just a scratch."

"Just a scratch my ass!" Olyvia said, seeing the exit wound on the right also, which was bleeding just as bad, "You're bleeding out!"

"I'll be just fine when we reach the quinjet," Steve said, "I have super healing remember."

Another shot rang out, this time it was Rosemary who was hit, square in the chest. She went flying backwards from the impact of the bullet and landed in the surf. Olyvia whirled around in time to see her sister fall.

"NO!" she screamed, rushing over to her sister.

Stark went zooming by, heading up the beach to an area just barely higher in elevation, disappearing among the condos that were built there. More gunshots rang out before all became silent. Olyvia was deaf to them though, more concerned about her sister's life. Loki was right beside her, just about ripping Rosemary from her grip.

"If you want her to live, let me help her," Loki snapped at Olyvia who tried to take her back.

Olyvia watched helplessly as Rosemary laid lifeless in Loki's arms as he placed his hand over the wound in her chest. Olyvia began wrapping a strand of wet hair from her ponytail around her finger, trying to calm her nerves. A light glow emanated from his hand, and flesh began appearing where the wound used to be. It was taking some time though, Loki becoming visibly drained as the time progressed. A few minutes into healing Rosemary, Stark returned.

"Bastard disappeared," Stark hissed, flipping his helmet up and his hardened gaze softened into a looked of worry as he looked down at Rosemary, "Is she alright?"

Olyvia wrapped the lock of hair tighter around her finger, "That's what we're finding out," she then glanced over at Stark, to find he had bullet holes in his armor, ones that actually went _through_ his suit, "Oh my god! Stark! Are you alright?"

"I hurt, but I'll be fine," Stark replied, "Whoever it was, they did their research, made a bullet that could actually pierce my suit. Not to mention not break when hitting water. You know Mythbusters actually proved that bullets couldn't shoot through water? It'd shatter upon hitting the surface due to surface tension."

"Yeah, I watched that episode," Olyvia replied.

Hearing a gasping breath, Olyvia whipped her head around to see Rosemary come to. Loki let go of her, and managed to scoot away a few feet before falling over onto his side, drained of nearly all his energy.

"Loki, are you alright?" Olyvia asked.

"I'm fine," he said, "What's important is that Rosemary is alright."

Olyvia turned back to her sister, "Are you alright?"

"I'm in a lot of pain, but…yeah, feeling better," Rosemary said, "Did I die?"

"You were close, but not quite there," Loki replied.

Olyvia helped her sister to her feet before pulling Steve to his, who was already doing better. Bruce went over to Loki and helped him up, draping Loki's arm over his shoulders to help support him as they walked back to the quinjet.

"Let's get out of here," Clint said.

They all nodded in agreement. They were so ready to go home.

* * *

Dianne had been on the bridge when the Avengers radioed in that they were coming in, so she hurried to the landing deck to greet them. The helicarrier was set down on the water for them to take off earlier that day, and was to remain down until they got back. It was dark by the time they arrived, so Dianne could hardly make out the quinjet aside from the lights on in when it landed. Hearing the quinjet power down, she started walking across the tarmac, only to skid to a stop seeing Steve almost dragging Loki out as he supported him as they walked out together, the others dragging their feet as they headed for inside, looking worse for wear, even in the poor lighting.

"Oh my gosh! Loki! What happened you guys?" Dianne asked, running over to her husband and turning his face to hers, "Oh my god…"

"Yes, I'm right here," Loki said tiredly.

"Not funny!" Dianne exclaimed, "You look horrible!"

"I feel horrible," Loki replied, "So could we continue this conversation in the medical ward?"

Dianne nodded and walked with them, Natasha telling her everything that had happened on the mission. Dianne let out a shriek of horror hearing Rosemary had been shot, explaining the huge hole in the chest of her suit. Stark had to first go to his suit's hangar to get out of it, and joined the others in the medical ward as they were all looked over by the technicians. He had to undergo surgery to remove the bullets since his suit slowed them down enough that they didn't go clean through. The technicians showed the bullets to the group before they would take them to Fury to see what he'd want done with them.

"Holy cow! These bullets are _huge_," Dianne commented, holding one up between two fingers, "And that's _after_ being all dented in. How did you survive being shot in the chest with one of these? It would have blown your heart to pieces."

"Loki must have gotten to me in time," Rosemary said.

"Thank goodness too," Dianne said, "Though he nearly killed himself saving you."

"An unfortunate downside to my magic," Loki said, "Great use of it really drains me, healing more so."

"I'm just glad we're all alright," Olyvia said, grabbing her husband's hand and giving it a tight squeeze, "And far away from there."

They all nodded in agreement, and Dianne set the bullet back down and the tray was taken away. Fury arrived around fifteen minutes later, and informed them they could return home on the morrow, since there was nothing else they could do. So shuffling their weary bodies out of the medical ward, they headed to the living quarters to sleep.

Olyvia quickly slipped into her pajamas and joined her husband on the bed, snuggling up close and wrapping her arms around his broad chest. She didn't care that his weight was crushing her right arm, she wanted to be as close to him as she possibly could. After a few seconds of moving around trying to get comfortable, Steve gave up trying to sleep on his back and rolled over onto his side so he was facing his wife, giving her a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"I was so worried I was going to lose you today," Olyvia whispered.

Steve brushed away her wild blond locks away from her face so he could actually see her, "It takes a lot more that a bullet to kill me."

"Even if it's a missile sized bullet?" Olyvia asked, exaggerating the size of the actual bullet. Not by much, but exaggerating nonetheless.

"Even if," Steve replied, "I'm still here aren't I?"

"Only because the bullet managed to not hit anything vital," Olyvia muttered.

Steve pressed his lips to her forehead for another quick kiss, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good, because I couldn't live without you," Olyvia said, squeezing him tighter in her arms, as if she were afraid to let go.

"Nor I without you," Steve said, "I wouldn't be able to handle the loss, if something were to happen to you."

"I'd cry myself to death if you died," Olyvia said, "You can't die before me, I won't allow it."

Steve chuckled, "Like we'd have any choice in the matter."

"Well if we did, you couldn't die before me."

"Well I don't want you dying before me," Steve said, "Like I said, I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"How about this then," Olyvia began, looking up into Steve's blue eyes, "When we are old and decrepit, we die together, holding each other like this. Deal?"

Steve smiled, and caressed Olyvia's face with the back of his fingers. She was silly sometimes, but that was one of the things he loved about her, that even in serious situations, she could put a smile on her face, as well as those around her. Except for those extreme depressed moods she got in, then it became a little more difficult.

"Deal."

* * *

So back home the Avengers went, except for Bruce and Stark, who were going to remain on the helicarrier to run diagnostics on the bullets and evidence found and recovered at the base, as well as give Stark time to recover from the surgery. Dianne and Loki got started on cleaning out the room all of Dianne's moving boxes wound up in for the baby's room the day after they returned home. Dianne had already settled on a paint color for the room, not caring for the baby's gender. It was going to be green. She liked green, so therefore the baby would have to like green too. Or at least tolerate it until they learned to speak and could tell them to fix it.

Olyvia was still having the baby blues, and sort of drug herself around the house doing her daily routine. After a few days had passed, Steve thought she was starting to do better, until one morning just a week after getting back from their mission. He was up early, as usual, and had made breakfast, eating his plate while waiting for Olyvia to come down. It was past eight o'clock, so he expected her to be down any minute. Finally she entered the kitchen, her body slumped over and an anguished countenance on her face.

"Are you okay Livy?" Steve asked, pushing his chair away from the table and starting to get to his feet.

Olyvia didn't reply, instead pulled out her chair, sat down in it, shoved her plate aside, and dropped her head into her arms on the table. Steve got the rest of the way out of his chair and rushed to his wife's side, crouching down beside her as he placed a consoling hand on her back.

"Dearest what's wrong?" he asked.

"I started," came her muffled reply.

It took a few seconds for her answer to click in his head, "Oh…I'm sorry Livy. We both know though that it's not going to happen right away."

Olyvia lifted her head, and Steve could see the tears in her eyes, "But we've been trying for eight months Steve. That's not right away. Bruce was right, it _is_ impossible for me to have kids."

"He said it would be nearly impossible," Steve said, "And he did tell us a few months ago that the cure for your mutation problem could have possibly erased the damage done, due to the results he's seen in your blood tests over the months."

"If that's the case, then why haven't I gotten pregnant already?"

That Steve couldn't answer, and hearing his silence, Olyvia dropped her head into her arms again.

"Maybe it's just not the time," Steve said quietly, that being as good of an answer as he could give, "Maybe we're not as ready as we think we are."

"Life sucks," Olyvia sobbed.

"It is difficult at times, yes, but then life would be boring otherwise."

"I think I'd prefer boring right now."

Hating seeing his wife like this, Steve wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him, and feathered kisses down the side of her face. He wasn't exactly sure what to do to put a smile back on her face, but he was going to try everything he could think of and then some.

"Is having just me around to entertain you really that horrible and boring?" he asked.

Olyvia lifted her head back up to look at her husband, "You know that's not what I meant."

"So I'm enough for you to constantly take care of, twenty-four seven?" Steve asked, "Because we both know with how out of touch I am with this time era I'm just about need that constant supervision and help."

A small smile spread across Olyvia's lips as she gave a short laugh, "That is true."

"Besides…not having a kid right away, it lets us spend time together, with just the two of us. No interruptions," Steve said, only to have Oscar head-butt him in the leg with a rope toy in his mouth, "For the most part."

"I guess you're right," Olyvia admitted. She enjoyed spending all the time that she did with her husband. With a kid, that would decrease dramatically.

"So cheer up," Steve said, "And eat your breakfast. We need to take Oscar on his walk today."

Olyvia nodded in agreement, pulling her plate back over to her, "I guess I shouldn't complain too much…we have two four-legged kids already, and with you in the mix, I do have my hands very full."

"But you love every second of it," Steve said, giving her a peck on the cheek before going back to his seat to finish his breakfast.

Olyvia's smile grew wider, "Yes. Yes I do."

* * *

Dianne was really tired. But she was really hungry too, now that she was starting to wake up. Before she opened her eyes, she could tell the blanket was pulled away down to her hips. She first rubbed her eyes before blinking them open, looking down to see Loki laying on his side next to her, his head at the same level her stomach was.

"Good morning," Loki said, glancing up at his wife and seeing her eyes were open.

"Morning," Dianne replied as she stretched. She was starting to feel uncomfortable lying on her back so she went to roll over onto her side when Loki placed a hand on her hip to stop her from doing so.

"What?" she asked.

"You have a bump," Loki said, running his hand over said baby bump.

"It's not a bump, it's a growth," Dianne said, "An alien growth."

"It is not an alien growth."

"How do you know?"

"Because, it's my child."

"And aren't you technically an alien?" Dianne asked with a wry smile, "I mean, you aren't from here, but from Asgard. So…alien baby."

Loki glared up at his wife, "I refuse to acknowledge your logic."

Dianne laughed and laid her hand on Loki's head, running her fingers through his hair, which had grown back to his shoulders since he cut it for their wedding over a year ago. She liked it at this length, he looked a little older, but he also looked extremely handsome. She particularly enjoyed seeing it all messed up because it was freaking adorable. Loki's eyes closed as her fingers brushed over his scalp, and he leaned more into her hand. He loved when she gave him this sort of attention. It was simple, but it was more intimate than holding hands, or giving a hug, because this was something she learned he liked. And a lot. She sometimes teased him that he was like a cat, enjoying being scratched behind the ear and head rubbings like Nelly. She didn't really scratch him of course, more like massaged.

The massage only lasted a minute before Dianne took her hand back, and Loki dropped his head back onto the bed with a disgruntled groan. He was enjoying that far too much for her to stop already. Not wanting to completely stop with the attention giving, he pulled up Dianne's shirt just enough to uncover the slight swell of her belly and planted a kiss on it.

"Hey, that's my alien baby you're kissing," Dianne said, tugging her shirt back down.

Loki placed his head on her "growth" so it was in the way of the shirt so it couldn't be pulled down all the way, "No, it's _my_ alien baby. I can give them kisses all I want."

And to prove his point he proceeded to rain kisses all over her belly, making Dianne twitch and squeak.

"Stop! That tickles!"

"No."

"Oh! Loki, I'm going to pee!"

That made Loki stop, because he knew she was serious, and quickly moved away to let her get up and hurry her way to the bathroom. Loki sighed in content as he flopped back down onto the bed. Just six and a half more months, and he would be able to give proper kisses to his child. He really couldn't wait for that moment.

* * *

Steve woke up to find his room, and bed, covered in red, white, and blue balloons. Looking to his right he found Olyvia was also gone, then up slightly to her alarm clock, found it was six in the morning. So again she had gotten up early on his birthday. Batting the balloons off the bed, he slid out from under the covers and tossed on a grey t-shirt before padding downstairs, where the aroma of pancakes, syrup and bacon assaulted his nose. Following the scent into the kitchen, he found his wife working busily in front of the stove, with Oscar sitting practically on her foot, begging for a taste of the food she was cooking.

"Is today a really special day or something?" Steve asked teasingly as he walked up to his wife and wrapped his arms around her hips, "You were up _before_ six o'clock."

"Yes, I deemed three o'clock worthy for your birthday today," Olyvia muttered sleepily.

Steve blinked in surprise, "_Three_? In the morning?"

"Well I had to get all those balloons blown up," Olyvia replied, "Which hardly goes faster with the air canister if you have trouble tying the knot."

Steve chuckled, "Well, don't I feel special."

"You better, or you can finish cooking your own breakfast while I go back to sleep."

"I feel extremely special," Steve said, giving her a kiss on her ear, "I have the best wife ever, how can I not?"

"And you know it."

With another chuckle, he kissed her again, this time on the cheek, before going and sitting down at the table, picking up the newspaper she had set out for him. Olyvia hardly ever read the newspaper, only looking through it at the animal shelter posts about which pets were available for adoption, even though Steve said they didn't need another dog, but Steve liked having it and read it from front to back so they subscribed to the city paper for his sake. He was on the third page when Olyvia slid a plate in front of him, and he laughed seeing what she had done. With the largest pancake she made, no doubt, she had put rings of strawberries and blueberries to make it look like his shield, with a whip cream star in the center.

"You expect me to eat this masterpiece?" Steve asked with a laugh.

"You better, I went through a lot of trouble to slice all those strawberries and put it together for you."

Grabbing the hot homemade syrup, Steve poured it over the pancake, though sparingly as to not melt the whip cream right away, "Then eat it I shall."

Steve finished the plate in just a few minutes, and got up to get himself more, finding that all the pancakes made were gargantuan.

"How did you make so many of these?" Steve asked, putting three more on his plate.

"I made a triple batch," Olyvia replied, "By the way, we're out of Bisquick."

Steve sighed. They ran out of food fast, and often.

"I'll go to the store tomorrow," he promised her.

"Oh don't worry about it. It's not like I'm going to make pancakes or waffles again for the following week."

Steve thought over something for a few moments before saying, "I'll go to the store tomorrow."

Olyvia rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't want to go a week without her cooking breakfast, he really enjoyed her cooking.

"So are we going to the parade today?" Olyvia asked.

Steve shrugged, "We could."

"Do you _want_ to?"

Steve took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before replying, "After what Fury told us, about being followed, I'm a little wary about being in public."

"That's true," Olyvia agreed.

"But Oscar does need his walk," Steve said, "And it's not like we'd be alone, there will be _hundreds_ if not _thousands_ of people out and about so…sure let's go."

"Then once we get back, I'll get to work on your dinner, and cake, and then you get to open presents."

"What _sort_ of presents?" Steve asked. If they were anything like his Christmas presents, he was going to _really_ enjoy it.

Olyvia gave him that wry, playful smile that she did every time she referred to _that_, "You'll see."

Oh he couldn't wait until tonight.

* * *

Find an opening, and grab her. That's what his orders were. However, there wasn't a single time she had been _alone_ in the last two weeks. Everywhere she went, _he_ went with her, or vice versa. This must have been punishment for not killing _any_ of the Avengers in Florida.

James watched Steve and Olyvia Rogers all day, a little hesitant to get too close with them walking their dog around the city. He looked capable of ripping an arm off, and James had experienced something like that already, though he did not remember it. He didn't wish to have a memory of losing a limb.

Once the couple returned to their home later that afternoon, James found a spot in a tree to watch from and made himself comfortable, since he doubted they'd leave the house again. Which they didn't. After they had their dinner, and the sun was close to setting, he could vaguely see through their blinds on the first floor of them becoming intimate and making their way upstairs, most likely to their bedroom where he couldn't see into, which he was thankful for, and he was sure they were quickly entangling themselves in the sheets. Again. Honestly, those two were like rabbits.

He felt that rise of envy and anger in his chest seeing the two together, but pushed the feelings aside as best he could. What reason would he have to feel these? He didn't _know_ either of them on a personal level to justify these emotions.

Reclining back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting in, he rested his eyes. He knew there wouldn't be any point to continue watching at this point so he was going to get some rest himself. He was getting tired of all this waiting, and following, and sleeping in trees. But he had to be there when the opportunity presented itself, and once it did, he would take Olyvia Rogers.


	4. Chapter 4

**First day of school! Meaning I have internet! So I shall update…even though I got little feedback this time…sigh, oh well, it's not the end of the world, we survived it after all.**

**m9ower: Sorry that I missed your review and didn't reply the first time around! Anyway, thank you! I'm happy to see you think it's good. :)  
**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Loki wasn't sure to be grossed out, or _try_ to ignore the fact that his wife was making some of the most disgusting concoctions he had ever seen. Wheat toast with blackberry jam was fine, but add scrambled eggs, and grated sharp cheddar and pepper-jack cheese on top of that…that was just disgusting.

"Could you hand me the pepper?" Dianne asked after taking the first bite of her lunch. Loki made a face. Her and her cravings.

"How does pepper even…go with that?" Loki asked as he handed the spice over.

"It needs a little kick," Dianne replied, shaking some pepper onto her toast…thing.

Loki gagged, "I think I lost my appetite."

"Well your alien baby certainly has one," Dianne said, taking another bite, "They're the reason I'm eating like this."

Opening the door to the fridge, she reached in and got herself a pickle from the jar inside, eating it alongside her lunch. She sat down at the table and Loki brought over her orange juice. She had really gone through the orange juice so far in her pregnancy. It was practically all she drank, aside from the vast amounts of water she _needed_. Bathroom trips were very frequent to all the drinking she was doing.

She was now four months along, and her baby bump was very noticeable. Loki couldn't help but smile each time he looked at her, seeing the swell of her belly, thinking of their growing child that was within her. Every night when he gave his wife a goodnight kiss, he would place one on her belly as well, and whisper goodnight to his child. He was getting very attached to the little being that still had months left to go before being born.

With it now being August, the weather was hitting the normal highs on the coast, being the upper seventies, but it was very humid, and Dianne couldn't quite handle the humidity. She would spend most of the time inside, but she and Loki would go out walking so she could get her exercise, taking their cameras with them to take photos of random things they saw. They had quite a collection of photos they had taken, framed, and placed on the walls around their home. Loki had become quite the avid photographer. His favorite subject of course, being Dianne.

Loki came back inside the house after working out front in their garden for a few hours, to find Dianne napping on the wicker lounge chair in their sunroom. With the lighting how it was, Loki rushed to the kitchen to first wash off his hands before running to the bedroom to grab his camera. He snapped a few photos before Dianne squirmed around, moving to a less aesthetic pose. At least he got the shot he wanted. She woke up though, from moving around and into a spot where the sunlight was shining directly in her eyes, and she blinked them open before moving her head again to avoid being blinded. It was then she saw Loki, and the camera.

"Taking more photos of your muse?" she asked as she stretched.

"I couldn't resist," Loki said.

Dianne shifted around more, until she found she wasn't comfortable reclining back, so she sat up, "Hmm…you know, I'm feeling hungry."  
Loki sighed, "When are you _not_ hungry?"

"When I'm asleep?"

"Exactly," Loki said, heading back into the kitchen, letting his camera hang around his neck, "So what do you want?"

"A fried flour tortilla with peanut butter and jalapeños sounds good," Dianne said, making Loki gag, "Ooh, and some of the taco bell sauce drizzled over it. And…sour cream. I don't even _like_ sour cream, why do I want it?"

"I don't know if I can make that for you," Loki said with a grimace, looking through the fridge, "Not just because thinking about it makes my stomach churn but because…well, we're out of tortillas, I know we're low on peanut butter, and we don't even _have_ sour cream or jalapeños."

"What about the orange juice?"

Loki looked from the fridge over to the trash can that had two empty cartons of orange juice in it, "It's gone too."

Dianne whimpered as she sat down in a chair, draping her arms over her stomach. She needed her orange juice.

"I'll go to the store right now and get you everything," Loki said, setting down his camera on the counter and started walking backwards towards the living room where his car keys were, "Is there anything else you want while I'm out?"

"Ice cream is always good," Dianne said, "Moose Tracks if you could."

Loki nodded and grabbed his keys, double checking he had his wallet before heading out the door. Normally Dianne would come with him, but just waking up from a nap he knew she'd be groggy for at least an hour and it would be better for her to remain sitting instead of trying to walk around a store. Besides, he wouldn't be long, a half hour at most if the lines were particularly slow. As he drove out of the driveway, he didn't notice the person step out from their hiding spot in the pine trees on the north side of their house. After Loki was gone, that one person was joined by five others within minutes.

* * *

Dianne grabbed Loki's camera and scrolled through the photos on the memory card to pass the time while he was gone. She had to admit, he had an eye for photography. She smiled at the last pictures, the ones he had taken just minutes before. She liked them, and wouldn't be surprised to find them on the wall next. Switching from viewing the pictures to the recorder, she fiddled around with it, recording Nelly sitting in a patch of sunlight, just for the heck of it. She knew it'd irk Loki slightly too, to have a pointless video of the cat on his camera.

It had been nearly ten minutes since Loki left when she heard a knock on the door. Slinging the camera over her neck, she waddled over to the door and swung it open. Six gruff looking men stood on her front porch, and her eyes immediately locked onto the A.I.M lettering on their uniform just below their left shoulder. Lifting her left hand, she shot a fireball at them while she went to slam the door with her right. They stopped the door from shutting, but they were also trying to avoid her fireballs so they weren't bursting through just yet. With six of them though, and just one of her, she doubted she'd win. So just in case she was taken…or worse killed, she at least had one way to make sure Loki knew who did this. She hit the record button on the camera just before the men burst into her home.

* * *

Loki was halfway into the driveway when he noticed the front door hanging ajar, and smoking from where it had been burned. He surged the car forward, and then flew out once he put it in park, racing to the door. Stopping just inside the doorway, his eyes grew wide seeing the chaos his house was in. It looked like a warzone, like Thor had gone through waving his hammer around carelessly, mindlessly destroying everything, except that most everything was smoking from having been burned. It was lucky his house was still standing and not burning down.

"Dianne!" Loki shouted for his wife, "Dianne!"

He went three laps through the house, and found no sign of his wife. He ran his hands through his hair, pulling on it hard as his breathing became heavier and faster. He was panicking, and rightly so. His four months pregnant wife was missing! When he heard the cat yowling, he hurried to the sound, hoping that she had taken refuge with the cat. But that wasn't the case, finding a terrified Nelly curled up into a tight ball on the front porch.

"Oh where is she?" Loki asked, tears springing to his eyes.

Going through the house again, he stopped when his foot kicked something across the hallway floor that led to their bedroom. Looking down, he saw it was his camera, broken and beaten. Reaching down he picked it up. How had it gotten over here? He had set it down in the kitchen. Then it struck him. Perhaps Dianne had used it? Hopefully catching her attacker while she was at it? But there was so much damage done, would any data be salvageable?

He hurried to the bedroom and sat down at the desk, prying apart his camera to find the memory card, and when he did, sighed in relief to see it was undamaged. Grabbing Dianne's camera, which was the same model as his, he switched her memory card for his, and reviewed the data to see what might be on there now. He rolled his eyes seeing one video being of the cat, but the next one made his blood run cold. There was too much jostling around for him to get a real clear look at the men that invaded his home, but he was able to tell what happened. They came in, and kidnapped his wife. Once the screen went black there was still the sound of her screaming for a few seconds before it cut out completely. By the time the video finished, he was in tears. He needed to get the video to Stark to analyze it, needed to get help to find Dianne, and regrettably, he knew he'd need S.H.I.E.L.D and their resources to do it. Firstly though, he needed to call Olyvia, tell her the bad news.

* * *

Steve cocked his head to the side upon entering the kitchen and seeing the refrigerator door propped wide open, and his wife kneeling down in front of it, scrubbing away at something inside for a few moments before tossing something into the trashcan she had set beside it. He had no idea what she was doing, or why for that matter.

"Everything okay Livy?" Steve asked, walking around the island to get a better look at what his wife was doing.

"No, the fridge _stinks_," Olyvia said, "Like a rat died in here stinks. Have you smelled this?"

Steve came up behind his wife and bent down, sticking his head in the fridge, and took a sniff. His nose crinkled in disgust.

"Oh, yeah something definitely died in there," Steve said, "Have you seen Whisper around in the last few days?"

"Ha-ha, very funny," Olyvia said blandly, "Yes, I have. She walked on your face this morning remember."

"Right, how can I forget? I ended up with a fuzzy paw in my mouth."

"I'm thinking the tomatoes and the can of tuna died in here," Olyvia said, grabbing a tuna can that had green and white fuzz sticking out of it and Steve looked at it in horror, "We're going to need to go shopping, by the way."

"Science project for school?" he asked, referring to the tuna can.

Olyvia whimpered at the reminder of school as she tossed the fuzzy tuna away. She would be starting classes in less than a week, and she was _not_ looking forward to the semester. She was taking science, forensic, and math classes this semester, all five unit classes. It was going to be hell, and it was super expensive. She was glad she had the money for it, but more semesters like this one, she'd need to go on another mission for S.H.I.E.L.D to replenish her and Steve's bank account.

"Are you even _ready_ for school?" Steve asked, hearing her pathetic whimper.

"Yes…supplies-wise at least," Olyvia muttered, "Intellectually. No way."

Steve gave her a kiss on her cheek, "You'll do amazing, I'm sure."

"I'll show you my homework when I get back on my first day, then we'll see what you say," Olyvia said, turning her head to look up at her husband.

Only to find him staring down at the dip of the neckline of her shirt. She glanced down before slapping an arm across her chest and glaring back up at him.

"Enjoying the view much?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Will I get in trouble for answering truthfully and saying yes?" Steve asked in reply.

Olyvia twisted her lips to the side, "Maybe not."

"Honestly though, how do you not expect me to stare?" Steve asked, "You're my wife, I'm allowed to. Especially when they're…there."

Olyvia looked back town at her chest, "I guess they're hard _not_ to notice. They've gotten… bigger. I haven't quite toned down on the junk food since your birthday."

"Yeah…you have gotten a bit bigger," Steve admitted.

Olyvia's jaw hung agape as she whirled around at her husband, staring at him in disbelief, "_What_ did you just say?" she asked shrilly.

Steve began backing away, knowing full well he just threw himself into the doghouse _and_ under the bus, "Just them. Not anything else. I-I…"

"You better get to the store buster, while I finish cleaning out this fridge that _you_ eat most of the food from, not me," Olyvia said.

"I'm sorry," Steve apologized, "I'm just being honest. You want me to be honest right?"

"A white lie might not hurt occasionally"

"I love you," Steve said as if to remind her.

"You love my chest, admit it."

"Well that too," Steve muttered, a light blush splayed across his cheeks.

Olyvia let out an indignant squawk before grabbing a rotten tomato and lobbing it at Steve, who dodged and it hit the wall with a splat.

"You're cleaning that up, by the way," Steve said pointing to the tomato as it slid down the wall, and backed up even further.

"Just go to the store already!"

"Going!" Steve shouted, taking off at a run to grab his keys and wallet.

Olyvia grumbled under her breath as she went back to scrubbing out the fridge. Sometimes she couldn't believe Steve said some of the things he did. None of it was ever too insulting, only mildly sometimes, like now for instance. Though…he didn't call _her_ fat, just one part of her anatomy. He could have phrased it better though.

"Eh, Steve still can't talk to girls, even though I'm his wife and we've lived together for ten months," Olyvia muttered, giving an excuse for him in his absence, "Wow…we've almost been married for a year…time certainly flies by."

Olyvia continued to scrub until her left arm started getting sore. Leaning back, she looked at the crook of her elbow, where it was still all black and blue from when Dr. Banner came last week and took her blood. He had to use a bigger needle this time, for some reason. He also told her he required more blood this time for more tests. Olyvia was just thankful the needle poking and blood drawing were done and over with. Or so she hoped. If he found any anomalies, it would be back to needles and blood tests. Oh she hoped he wouldn't find anything.

Deciding that the scrubbing wasn't going to do much in the way of getting rid of the smell, Olyvia threw away the rest of the rotten items in the fridge and shut the door, going over to the rotten tomato that was now sitting on the floor. Tossing it away, she began cleaning up the mess, when there was a knock at her door. Oscar lifted his head up from where he was laying on the floor just outside of the kitchen, turned to look toward the door, and growled.

"Shush Oscar," Olyvia chided.

Oscar didn't let down with the growling this time, but he did lower his head back onto the floor, watching the doorway. With a sigh, Olyvia pulled off the rubber gloves she had been wearing, and headed over to the door. She expected it to be her sour grouse of a neighbor, coming over to complain that Oscar had gotten into his yard again and dug up his yard. She had tried explaining that Oscar was a mostly indoor dog, and that when he went outside, he was usually with someone, and he couldn't get over, or under their fence, it had to be another dog. Opening the door, she was surprised to find it wasn't her neighbor, but James.

"James, hi," Olyvia said in surprise, "What are…what are you doing at my house? How did you even know where I live?"

"Hello Olyvia," James replied.

Oscar was suddenly behind Olyvia, having raced to the door, barking and growling ferociously, making Olyvia jump. She'd never heard him react like that before.

"Oscar! Quiet!" Olyvia scolded.

Oscar settled with not barking, but curled back his upper lip as he continued to snarl and snap at James, who had taken a few steps away.

"Oscar doesn't like it when strangers are in his territory," Olyvia explained, a sickening feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. She knew dogs had the uncanny ability for knowing a person's intentions, and if Oscar was acting like this, she knew James must have had some pretty nasty intentions. He had never made her uneasy before, save for the fact that he seemed to appear around the campus out of nowhere, and then disappeared as soon as Steve would show up.

"It's understandable," James said.

"So uh…if you'll excuse me James," Olyvia began, grabbing Oscar by the collar and pulling him back as she backed into the house as well, "You'll go ahead and leave. I have a house to clean."

"You know, not many people actually call me James," he said, stepping forward and placing a hand against the door so she couldn't close it.

"Oh?" Olyvia muttered, loosening her grip on Oscar's collar.

"Almost everyone calls me Winter Soldier," James said, whipping out a gun and shooting Oscar.

Oscar yelped sharply and Olyvia reacted on instinct, kicking James in the chest, sending him flying across the front yard, across the street and into the next yard. She slammed the door shut and locked both the handle and the deadbolt before checking Oscar. She sighed in relief seeing only a dart in his neck, that James hadn't shot him with a normal gun. Unless the dart was poisoned. Oscar was starting to act lethargic, so she assumed it was a tranquilizer.

"It'll be okay boy," Olyvia said soothingly as Oscar continued to whimper as he laid down onto the hardwood floor.

Her front door burst open a few seconds later, and Olyvia whirled around to see James stomping through, a gun pointed at her. She created an ice shield as he fired, and Oscar, who wasn't down yet, ran at him, clamping his jaw down on his right arm, the one that was holding the gun. James howled in pain as Oscar shook his head as violently as he could, before punching the dog in the head with his other arm. Oscar yelped, and dropped to the floor like a dead weight. While Oscar had been dealing with him, it gave Olyvia time to run, and she headed straight to the gunlock in the kitchen.

James came running around the corner, only to find the barrel of a shotgun pointed at his head.

"Oh shit!" James exclaimed, reeling backwards for the cover of a wall.

Olyvia pulled the trigger, and didn't waste the time to see if she hit before unloading and sliding in another shotgun shell, aiming to where she last saw him, and shot again. She continued this as she walked toward the kitchen entryway, loading another before stepping around and firing at his retreating figure. He leapt into another room, her shot hitting the doorway, and appeared to have hit him, even if just a little. She was so thankful to her grandfather for teaching her how to use a gun, especially the aiming.

"If you think you're going to do anything to me, you've got another thing coming," Olyvia shouted at him.

She silently loaded another shell, and continued to silence her footsteps as she walked down the hallway. The room he went in had no other doorway out, though it did have windows, so she was keeping a sharp ear out for anything happening behind her. She crouched down as she reached the doorway, in case he was aiming and waiting for her to come out into the open, and then whipped around the doorway. He was aiming, and high, so that gave her a split second to aim. Before she could pull the trigger though, she was hit by an electric pulse, and felt her muscles spasm as it coursed through her body. Fighting it, she aimed as best she could, and squeezed the trigger hard, mostly due to the muscle spasms. She still hit him, but not in the head as she was trying to, but in the left shoulder. James spouted out a few colorful words as Olyvia tumbled over onto her side, unable to hold herself up anymore. She wondered if she had been tasered, she had never been tasered before so she had no idea what it felt like, but she was pretty sure this was it.

James kicked her shotgun away before kneeling down beside her, pulling out a needle and syringe. Olyvia stiffened seeing it. Oh how she hated needles.

"You are a pain in the ass," he said as he stuck her in the arm with the needle and injected whatever liquid was in the syringe.

"And you…are so dead," Olyvia said as best she could with her jaw clenched tight.

James smiled smugly, though with a pained expression. She could see the nasty wound in his shoulder and was glad she got a good shot in.

"Because your Captain will come for you?" he asked, "That's the plan. He'll never make it though. Once he and your other friends are taken care of, we'll then deal with you and the others."

Olyvia's brow furrowed. Others? What others? Were they…were they going to kidnap other people in the Avengers? Her first thoughts went to Dianne, since she was pregnant. No, they could potentially kill the baby! She needed to fight, get away and warn Dianne and Loki before it was too late. But her body wouldn't respond, beginning to feel heavy and her vision was starting to darken. The last thing she remembered was James picking her up, and seeing the hardwood flooring before falling unconscious.

* * *

Steve had gotten used to hearing sirens around Ashland, but as he got closer to home, and the police vehicles were heading that way, he was beginning to worry. As he pulled onto his street, he let out a little sigh of relief seeing the three police vehicles that had passed him were parked at one of his neighbors' houses. Namely Mr. Goldman, the neighbor who complained a lot. Steve couldn't help but wonder what was going on, and figured he might ask later, once he put the groceries away and gave his wife the bouquet of summer flowers as an apology for sticking his foot in his mouth earlier. Pulling up into the driveway though, he could already tell something was wrong. He didn't see Oscar in the window, like he usually was when he heard Steve's truck arrive in the driveway. It was when he reached the door that he knew for sure something was wrong. The door wasn't even latched, the doorjamb having been broken from someone kicking it in. Steve dropped the bag of groceries and rushed inside, screeching to a halt seeing the Rottweiler on the ground.

"Oscar? Oscar, hey buddy, you doing alright there?" he asked the dog, despite knowing he couldn't answer.

He was still breathing, Steve could see the rise and fall of his chest, but he had blood on his forehead and on his muzzle. Lying on the floor beside the dog, was a dart. Steve picked it up, and examined it for a few moments before looking up and around the room. He could see that the kitchen entryway wall was shot to pieces, and his stomach began to fill with dread. Pushing himself to his feet, he followed the destruction, finding the shotgun lying in the hallway floor. Peeking his head into the little study room Olyvia used for homework, he found blood spattered on a wall.

"Oh God," Steve breathed, "Olyvia! Olyvia, please tell me you're here!"

He was only answered by a frightened yowl from Whisper, who was slowly coming down the stairs. When she saw Steve, she let out another yowl, this one sounding to be happy to see him and came running down the stairs and straight to his feet, where she stood up on her back legs and propped her front paws against his shin. Steve knew Olyvia would never be this mean with a joke, so he knew she was gone, and he started to panic. Was she killed and taken? No, what would be the point of taking a dead body, she must still be alive. At least…he hoped she was still alive.

Steve was certain the police had been called from the gunshots fired from the shotgun in his house, and would most likely be coming to knock on his door next. Looking at the dart, he knew they'd want to take it for evidence, but he wanted Bruce or Stark to look at it, so he quickly placed it in a plastic bag, and hid it where he and Olyvia kept their S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms and accessories. As he headed outside, two police officers were already heading up the stairs to his porch.

"You going somewhere?" one officer questioned, sounding awfully suspicious of Steve already.

"No sir," Steve said, his face crumpled in anguish and worry. He wished he could run off and start looking for Olyvia, but he had no clue where to start.

"We received calls saying gunshots were heard in this area approximately ten minutes ago," the second officer stated, "Did you hear anything?"

Steve wanted to ask if they had seen him just drive up, but refrained from doing so. Perhaps they were too busy questioning Mr. Goldman to notice.

"No sir I…I just got home," Steve replied, "But…I think this is the place you're looking for."

The first officer raised an eyebrow, "You mean the shots originated from your home?"

"My place is a mess, my dog has been hurt," Steve said, "Go…look for yourselves, but I need to make a few phone calls."

The two officers nodded and headed inside, briefly checking the dog before venturing further. The first call Steve had to make was the vet. He wanted to make sure Oscar was okay. Steve was betting he got hurt defending Olyvia.

The veterinarian agreed to come over, and as quickly as possible while the police continued to investigate the house, calling in more officers and crime scene investigators due to finding the blood in the one room. Steve was appalled when one of the investigators implied that perhaps Steve had killed his wife and dumped off her body. Olyvia seriously wanted to go through school to be one of these people!?

"I…would _never_…kill my wife," Steve seethed, his countenance becoming dark as he glowered down at the man.

The investigator quickly regretted asking that, but seeing his reaction made him think he was capable of murder.

Steve's house was quickly turning into a scene of chaos, and the vet had to fight with the investigators to take the dog to their office to be checked over. Since the dog had blood in his mouth, the investigators needed to take samples of it, and they took their time doing it until the vet practically bit off their hands to get them to finish. Steve was partially regretting letting the police into his house, but they most likely would have found out anyway, and that would have made things look worse.

"Were you and your wife having any marital problems?" yet another investigator was questioning him in the kitchen.

"For the fiftieth time, no," Steve replied.

"Was there anyone she didn't get along with? Any enemies?"

Steve could write a list of S.H.I.E.L.D enemies, but that would violate S.H.I.E.L.D's code _and_ be a long list. However, it made Steve think that perhaps A.I.M was behind this. They set up the Florida site, trying to kill them, perhaps they were trying a different method.

"No," Steve replied instead, "Unless you count Mr. Goldman for hating our dog."

The investigator rolled his eyes, "Where were you between eleven thirty and eleven fifty this morning?"

"The store," Steve said, "my groceries are still out on the front porch. Spoiling. Since you won't allow me to put them away since I could potentially contaminate evidence."

The exasperation was evident in Steve's voice, and the investigator was quickly becoming annoyed with it. He opened his mouth to answer another question when they jumped hearing rock music suddenly start playing. Steve looked around to find it was Olyvia's phone on the island, and seeing the I.D on the screen saw it was Loki.

"It's my wife's phone," Steve said, "And that's her brother-in-law calling. I should probably answer it."

"Put it on speaker," the investigator ordered.

Steve walked over to the phone and paused. Olyvia had one of those smart phones, while he had an 'as-old-as-you-can-get' phone that he partially understood, "I…don't know how to answer one of these."

"Oh my god," the investigator groaned, and quickly swiped his finger across the screen and hit the speaker button.

"Olyvia?" came Loki's panicked voice.

Steve's brow furrowed. What was wrong with him? Did Dianne set something on fire again? Was something wrong with the baby?

"Loki, it's Steve," Steve replied and he saw the look of confusion and distaste on the investigator's face hearing the brother-in-law's name, "Olyvia, she…she isn't here. She's gone."

"Gone? Gone as in…kidnapped?" Loki asked.

"That's what I think, but the _police_ think I killed her," Steve said, shooting a death glare at the investigator, making him shrink back a few inches.

Loki scoffed, "Idiot mortals."

Now the investigator looked _really_ confused.

"You're on speaker, by the way," Steve mentioned.

"Oh…," Loki muttered, "Um…Steve, I have a private matter to talk to you about."

"Do you mind if I take the call privately?" Steve asked.

"He might have information pertinent to our investigation," the investigator replied.

"He talks to her over the phone only when there is an emergency," Steve rebutted, "So I doubt there will be anything _pertinent_ to your investigation _here_."

With a roll of his eyes and wave of his hand, the investigator stormed off, and Steve took a few moments to figure out how to turn the phone off speaker and held it up to his ear.

"So what's going on?" Steve asked.

Steve could hear Loki was on the verge of tears, his voice shaken as he replied, "Dianne has been kidnapped. I was gone for…maybe twenty minutes and I returned home to find it turned upside down and charred. Dianne had my camera and she changed it over to video and…recorded it."

"So you know who did it?"

"I couldn't get a good enough look with how shaky it was," Loki replied, "Steve…Dianne's four months pregnant. She has a doctor's appointment next week. We were…we were going to…hopefully, find out the baby's gender. She's having these crazy cravings and whoever kidnapped her won't have any care for her or the baby—I…I'm scared for her. I'm scared what they might do to her. I-I-I don't know what to do."

Steve had never heard Loki so rattled, that calm demeanor and silver tongue all but gone now. Steve understood why though. Loki had two people he could potentially lose, not just one.

"I'll try to contact Stark," Steve said, "We'll most likely have to contact the Director as well, but Stark would be the one who could analyze the video, and get a hold of Bruce so we can get his help too."

"Yes, that…that was my plan exactly."

"Do you have Stark's number?"

Loki was silent for a few moments before replying, "No. Why, you don't?"

"I deleted it from my phone because I was…angry with him. At least I know someone who does have it though."

"Rosemary?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll let you go…do that," Loki said, "Let me know what's happening when you talk to him."

"I will," Steve promised, saying a quick goodbye before hanging up.

Not wanting to try to figure out Olyvia's phone, Steve grabbed his and dialed Rosemary's cell number. It rang four times before Rosemary answered, out of breath and sounding panicked.

"Steve!" she shouted into the phone, obviously having seen the caller I.D, her shout causing him to flinch, "I need help! There are people chasing after me!"

"What?" Steve asked, "Where are you? Do you know who's after you?"

"I have no clue!" Rosemary replied, "As for where I am, I'm teleporting home from Juan's!"

Now that was quite a distance, but if these people were doing the same as they had here and at Dianne's, home would not be safe.

"No, don't go home! Go anywhere but there!" Steve ordered.

"But I'm already—AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Steve dropped the phone her scream was so loud, his ear starting to ring from the force of it. All of the police officers were looking at the phone in shock, having heard it as well. He quickly picked up the phone, only to find the line had gone dead.

"Shit," Steve cursed.

What was going on?

* * *

The police had left hours later, and Steve called Loki back to tell him the unfortunate news about Rosemary. Neither of them had Stark's number, and Steve vaguely recalled some numbers from it, due having had it before in his contacts, but after a few phone calls that didn't end well, he ended up deleting it. Boy was he wishing he had it now.

Sitting in the living room, Steve held his head in his hands, muttering numbers to himself, trying his hardest to remember Stark's cell number. After sitting there for an hour, he finally got it, repeating it out loud, and excitedly as he went to grab his phone and punched in the number. As it rang he began hoping that he did have the right number.

"Yes Capsicle, what is the meaning of this phone call in the middle of the night?"

That was Stark alright, "Oh thank God I got the right number."

"You don't have my number? I thought you had it?"

"I deleted it in a fit of anger after a phone call last year," Steve replied, "Which I will admit now, I regret."

"Okay…what happened for you to say that?"

"Olyvia, Dianne and Rosemary have been kidnapped," Steve replied.

"WHAT!" Stark exclaimed, "When did this happen?"

"Today, one right after the other," Steve replied, "Dianne apparently got a recording of her kidnappers and Loki wants you to look at it, see what you can do."

"Right…yeah, I can do that," Stark said quietly, "Who would want Rosemary?"

"Do you not care about Olyvia? Or Dianne who is with child?"

"Dude, no one says with child anymore."

"You are so…," Steve growled, thinking of a few words he could finish that with, "Do you have to _joke_ about _everything_? This is serious!"

"I know it's serious!" Stark shouted back, "Ever stop to think that perhaps my coping mechanism is to make jokes Capsicle? That making light of a situation helps me deal with it?"

Steve paused. He had never thought of it that way. The fact that Stark told him though, he must have berated him often enough for it to have finally made Stark snap at him.

"Sorry," Steve apologized.

"Okay so…I'll get in contact with Loki, pick him up tomorrow or something," Stark said, "Do you want me to get you too?"

"I'd appreciate that."

"Then I shall see you tomorrow…sometime," Stark said, "Depends on when Loki is ready to go. Perhaps I can return the favor of waking you up in the middle of the night."

"I know you understand the emergency."

"Still, middle of the night," Stark said, "And for once I went to bed early."

"Goodnight Stark."

"You could say that again," Stark replied before hanging up.

Hanging up as well, Steve let out a heavy sigh, running his hands down his face. He better start packing and make pet sitter plans too.

* * *

Olyvia was feeling very groggy as she felt herself starting to float to consciousness. Her body was still very lax and heavy as she could feel herself waking. She wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids refused to do more than flutter back and forth slightly. It took forever for her to get to the point she could open them, but that was as far as her body was willing to exert energy. Looking around the room she was in from where she laid on the floor, all she saw were white walls, and high, small windows. Taking about thirty seconds to turn her head slightly to her left, she saw a metal door. One that was larger than normal, but not as wide as double doors.

"Livy?"

Olyvia began the slow turning of her head to her right where she heard her sister's voice. She had feared they might have been after her too, and finally turning her head enough to look to her right, saw Dianne sitting on a pillow on the floor, her arms wrapped protectively over her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Dianne asked.

Olyvia tried opening her mouth to speak, but she could only open it partially, and a wheezing squeak was all that came out. So she tried nodding. That was even more difficult. Giving it another fifteen minutes, she was starting to be able to move more, though she regretted doing so as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Every muscle in her body _ached_. It reminded her of how her body felt after her car accident.

"I'm fine," Olyvia's voice came out very strained, and an octave above her normal tone. She cleared her throat and continued, "You?"

Dianne nodded, "For kidnappers, they've been surprisingly careful with me due to my pregnancy."

"That is surprising," Olyvia said, her voice starting to go back to normal so she cleared her throat again, "I think I was tasered, then injected with a tranquilizer. They're not being nice to me."

"Why do you think A.I.M took us?" Dianne asked.

"So it is A.I.M? I thought so."

"You didn't see the insignia on their uniform?"

"You make it sound like more than one person. Only one guy came after me, and he didn't have any insignia on his uniform," Olyvia replied, "Kind of sad though, I actually knew the guy."

Dianne gawked at her, "You _knew_ him?"

Olyvia nodded, this time able to do so at a faster pace so that Dianne actually knew it was a nod, "I thought he was just another student at the University. That's where I kept running into him. Guess he was my stalker."

"Guess so."

"I shot him a few times with my shotgun."

"Nice."

They fell into silence, Olyvia closing her eyes again as she tried to relax. How could one relax though when they had been kidnapped? As those thoughts ran through her head, it made her think of Steve, and Loki. Oh Loki must be beside himself, knowing his _pregnant_ wife was missing.

"How do you think Loki is handling you missing?" Olyvia asked.

Dianne let out a heavy exhale, her eyes going wide, giving her sister the 'I-have-no-clue-but-it'll-be-bad' look.

"He just might start destroying the world again to find me," Dianne said.

"Well, in this case that wouldn't be a bad thing," Olyvia said, "He can go all Norse God on everyone here."

Olyvia then picked up some sounds, and turning her head so her ear was facing the doorway, focused on them. They were multiple footsteps coming towards the door, along with the sound of rubber dragging on carpet. So whoever was coming, was dragging something with rubber on the bottom.

The door opened a few seconds later, and two men tossed Rosemary's limp body into the room. Olyvia and Dianne gasped seeing their sister had been caught too, Olyvia leaping to get up and over to her sister. She was only able to get to her knees though, and wasn't able to get a good look at the men before they slammed the door shut, and the lock was heard.

"Like a locked door could stop me," Olyvia muttered as she crawled over to her sister, "Rosemary? Rosemary, wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!"

"Ow, Livy, she might be drugged too. I don't think shouting in her ear will help," Dianne said.

Olyvia's face fell, gently rocking her sister side to side hoping to rouse her, when she finally realized, she wasn't bound. Lifting her hands, she looked at them, then at the door.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Dianne said, seeing where she was looking.

"Probably not, seeing as they left us unbound, but I have to try," Olyvia said.

Getting up, she walked over to the door and smacked her hand against it briefly to see if it was dangerous to touch, which was the case, getting another jolt through her body. So grabbing the handle and breaking the lock wasn't an option. Clenching her hand into a fist, she punched it as hard as she could, ignoring the shock, but the door merely dented slightly, and now Olyvia's hand hurt like hell.

"Oh son of a _bitch_!" Olyvia shouted, nursing her throbbing right hand, "What is that made out of?"

"Language!" Rosemary exclaimed, suddenly jolting up into a sitting position.

"Hey look, you woke her up," Dianne said.

"Ow…what, _the hell_, is that door made out of?" Olyvia asked again.

"Adamantium," a familiar voice said, making the three of them jump.

Olyvia whirled around to find James standing in the corner. Where did he come from? She didn't see him there before. She was pleased to see his left shoulder was bandaged though.

"Ada-what now?" Olyvia asked.

"Adamantium," James repeated, "Strongest metal in the world. There's no way you're breaking through it."

Yeah, her hand could tell that.

"I may not be able to break out of here, but I can certainly break your neck," Olyvia growled.

Before she could move, James pulled out a gun, aiming it at her, "Now, now. I don't think you'll want to do that."

"Oh, I think I do, jackass," Olyvia hissed.

"Lang—."

"Midget! Do you honestly really care what I call the enemy!"

Rosemary snapped her mouth shut.

"Starting now, if any of you try to do anything to escape, or fight against us," James then pointed the gun to Dianne, "We will kill her."

Olyvia's whole body went cold seeing the gun pointed at her sister, and Dianne tensed, wrapping her arms tighter around her belly as if that would protect her child. Olyvia slowly sat back down, to show she posed no threat anymore.

"Good girl," James said mockingly, holstering his gun, and a feral growl rumbled out from Olyvia's chest.

When she got her chance, she would kill James herself.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Olyvia picked up more noises, having kept a sharp ear out for anything since she woke and had control over that. Something was coming towards the door, but it wasn't anything familiar, so Olyvia couldn't determine what it was. The lock turned on the door, and James stood up at attention instead of leaning against the wall, and the other two sisters looked over to see what was going on. The three sisters all reeled back seeing their visitor. Rosemary was the only one gutsy enough to speak.

"What…is that?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello peoples!**

**m9ower: Phew, glad to hear someone thinks I've done a good job with the characters, especially since I've had the **_**toughest**_** time with Loki. He is, personally, the hardest for me to write.**

**Larryeneno: Oh yeah, the girls will be okay…for the most part. I've been too mean to them lately to have anything too terrible happen to them. Yet. They are kidnapped by the enemy after all, they're not going to be nice.**

**harrylee94: wow, you weren't kidding about the long review. I might include X-men eventually, if I think they'll fit into the storyline. (In this story or another. You never know when I might come up with another sequel idea.) As for Dianne's cravings, I wanted to make up some really weird ones just for fun. The OJ is her main craving, can't have enough of it!**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

The…_thing_, there really was no other explanation for it other than _thing_, entered the room by what looked like a golden throne that floated above the ground, which gave off an odd sound which was what Olyvia picked up. The thing sitting in the chair though…it basically looked like a giant tanned head, with normal sized arms and legs covered in purple armor. It had humanoid qualities, but the girls could see it was mostly machine. It was most likely the reason the door was so large, so it could get through.

"What am I?" it asked, it's voice barely understandable due to the computerized vocals, "I am M.O.D.O.K, leader of A.I.M."

"Modok?" Olyvia questioned.

"Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, is what my name stands for, if that was what you were asking."

Olyvia just stared at him dumbfounded, her lips moving silently as she mouthed the words again, before she snorted in laughter, "That…has to be…the _lamest_ name I have ever heard. Just stick with Modok, it's less embarrassing."

Modok frowned, "I was designed by previous leaders of A.I.M, and then overtook the role myself, having grown more powerful than my predecessor."

"Designed? So you're basically a machine?" Dianne asked.

"I was originally a man, but with the modifications made, I became more machine, yes."

"So you are…a gay robot," Olyvia said.

Rosemary and Dianne snorted in laughter, getting the reference, while Modok and James just looked at them in confusion. Modok then turned to look at James.

"I assume you've explained the rules to them Winter Soldier?" he asked, changing the subject.

James nodded, "They know not to try escaping or fighting against us."

"Good," Modok said, "Don't want to eliminate our bait needlessly before we can put them to use."

The three sisters blanched.

"Bait?" Dianne asked.

"To draw out the Avengers," Modok said, "So that I can kill them."

* * *

Loki was a mess. He was paler than usual, had dark circles under his eyes, and looked ill. Not only that, half of his mind was elsewhere, busy fretting over Dianne, causing him to forget things. When Stark picked him up, it took them over an hour to leave the house because Loki realized, due to being reminded from Stark asking him questions, that he kept forgetting things. Finally they made it to Ashland, where Steve was a little quicker about loading up his things. Loki showed Steve the video, and he just shook his head seeing it. Who were these people, and what did they want with Dianne, Olyvia and Rosemary? Were they merely to distract them from a bigger plan they were devising? Were they bait to draw them out? Or did they need the sisters for something they were working on? In all honesty, they were hoping they were bait to get them out looking for them. They could handle an ambush, they couldn't handle losing someone precious to them.

Stark was shown the video next, but without it in a computer, Stark couldn't do anything to freeze and magnify an image, or run search diagnostics on faces or anything else that could help identify Dianne's captors. Even though he did have a laptop on the plane, he didn't bother using it, since the screen was hardly large enough to notice much more. He'd wait until they reached the tower and Stark could play with all his toys, and have JARVIS help him out. Reaching the tower, they found they had a visitor.

"Wondered how long it'd take for you to find out half your team was captured," Stark said as he walked past Fury in the penthouse, "How did you get in here? JARVIS did you let him in?"

"He overrode all my protocols sir," JARVIS replied.

"You're not the only one who can do hacking," Fury added.

Stark frowned, clearly not happy that Fury hacked into his house. Again.

"We'll find Dianne and Olyvia as quickly as possible," Fury said to Loki and Steve, "I wouldn't want any member of our team in enemy hands long. There is no telling what might be done to them."

That only made Loki worry even more, and turn greener. He was going to throw up he was worrying so much. Steve patted him on the back, seeing how much more ill he became.

"What, not concerned about Rosemary?" Stark asked with a growl.

"She's been captured too?" Fury asked.

"Who's been updating you?" Stark questioned back, "Perhaps you should fire them."

Fury growled in frustration as he turned heel and walked off, a hand going to his ear to radio in to someone for news. Loki and Steve followed Stark into his lab/tech room, where he took Loki's memory card and plugged it in, scrolling through photos and other videos to find the one he needed.

"You took a video of the cat?" Stark asked.

"That was Dianne," Loki said.

"Right," Stark said, not inclined to believe the God of Mischief, "The pictures by the way are really good. Thank goodness Pep isn't here to see some of these because I'm sure she'd insist on having more than just a few to hang up."

"Thanks…," Loki muttered, "I guess."

"Wait, Pepper isn't here?" Steve asked.

"Had to go to Washington," Stark replied, "Why?"

"After what's happened with Olyvia, Dianne and Rosemary…you're not concerned?" Steve asked.

Stark paused before his hands were a flurry of movement as he began to quicken his work pace, "JARVIS, call Pep for me would you?"

"Right away sir."

Stark could hear the phone ringing in his earpiece, and once it rang for the third time, he started getting antsy. She normally picked up fairly quickly.

"Come on, come on pick up the phone," Stark muttered, tapping his left foot impatiently.

He cursed loudly when it went to voicemail. She hardly ever, _ever_, let calls go to voicemail.

"Pep, if you get this message, please, please, _please_ call back. It's an emergency."

He hung up and spouted off a few more curse words.

"That doesn't sound good," Steve said.

"I hope to God she was in a meeting," Stark said, bringing up the video on his large holographic screen, playing it through until he had a good shot of the captors and froze it, "JARVIS, run facial recognition on the men."

JARVIS began his scan, quickly bringing up something else while those continued to work.

"Sir, there seems to be some lettering on the uniform," the A.I informed the billionaire, "Due to the minimal quality, I am having some trouble making it out."

"Try to clear it up as much as you can," Stark instructed.

A smaller photo of the lettering was brought up into the upper right corner of the screen as the facial recognition continued off to the other side. JARVIS cleared the photo up as much as he could, and the three men all leaned in closer and squinted to see if they could tell what it was.

"Hmm…maybe we'll have a better shot somewhere else," Stark said.

He moved the portraits of the men into a smaller section, got the video recording again, watching carefully as the seconds ticked by, freezing it just before the video would go dark, and he had a full shot of one man.

"See if you can make out the lettering this time JARVIS."

"It appears to be the letters, A, I, M, sir," JARVIS replied, bringing up a cleared up photo of the insignia.

Steve sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair, "I thought it might have been them."

"Why can't the enemy kidnap Bruce or something?" Stark asked no one in general, "Or me? Take me next time! Honestly! I mean, really, the girls need a break. They've had enough crap happen to them."

"Especially Olyvia," Loki and Steve said in unison, except Steve called his wife by her nickname.

"Yeah, no kidding," Stark agreed.

"So what are going to do?" Loki asked.

"We need to find them," Steve replied.

"I figured that, but how are we going to do that?" Loki asked.

"Grab your things," they heard Fury announce behind them, making them turn around, "We've recovered some items at Agent Harris's house. It's time to go back to base."

* * *

Olyvia strummed her fingers against her stomach as she stared up at the white ceiling, beating each finger to a note in the song playing through her head. She would have really appreciated being given something to do instead of lay around and entertain herself. They had been there a day, and the three sisters were bored out of their skulls.

"I can't handle this anymore!" Rosemary said, sitting up from where she was lying beside her sister, except in the opposite direction so her legs were by Olyvia's head, "I need something to do!"

James threw a book at her, "Read this and stop complaining."

Rosemary glared and was about to chuck the book back at him before stopping, realizing he may count that as retaliating, and just kicked it back across the floor at him, "I don't like reading."

"Then stop complaining before I gag you," James threatened.

"Why are you still in here?" Olyvia asked, "Seriously, if we're bugging you, go away. Simple as that. You have cameras installed in here, we can see them, why do you have to babysit."

James frowned, "Because I was told to."

"And little Jamesy does as he's told?" Olyvia asked babyishly.

Dianne sighed, and readjusted the way she was resting from being on her side to reclining against the wall, "Would it be possible for me to get something to eat?"

"You ate an hour ago," James said.

"You've obviously never been pregnant," Dianne rebutted.

"Well I would hope he hasn't," Olyvia muttered.

"I need food," Dianne continued on, while James shot another glare at Olyvia, "It's for the baby. And right now…they're kind of wanting a peanut butter and cheddar cheese sandwich."

Olyvia and Rosemary gagged loudly, both of them rolling around on the floor in disgust.

"Peanut butter and cheddar cheese? How do those even go together?" Olyvia asked abhorrently, "Bleh, just…bleh."

"I think I'm going to puke," Rosemary whimpered pathetically.

"What makes you think you can order me around?" James asked.

"The baby needs food, and when the baby doesn't get food, they get cranky," Dianne began, "Which makes me cranky, and already being hormonal as I am, that makes things a hundred times worse for you. Do you _really_ want to mess with me when I'm hungry and cranky?"

"I'm not making you anything," James rebutted.

"Dude. Get. The pregnant lady. Her sandwich!" Olyvia said, "Even though it sounds nasty. Do you really, _honestly_, want to put up with more than we've already put you through?"

James pushed himself off the wall with a groan, "Fine I'll go make you your…sandwich."

"It has to be creamy peanut butter. And preferably sharp cheddar cheese," Dianne added, "I'd like it cut diagonally. And a glass of orange juice too, if possible."

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, James headed to the door.

"Oh, could you get me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Olyvia asked, "With like…a lot of peanut butter and only a little bit of jelly. And a glass of milk. I can't have PB and J without milk. Oh, and I'd like it cut in half. Not diagonally, but in half."

"I'd like some cooked spinach!" Rosemary added.

James sighed again, this time a little more frustrated with them, before radioing in he needed out of the room, and the door was opened for him. Once he was out, the door was quickly shut and relocked.

"You know Rosemary," Olyvia began, propping herself up onto her elbows so she could look at her sister, "If you were Popeye, your request would make sense."

"I like spinach."

"I guess it is slightly less weird than Dianne's request," Olyvia had to admit.

"Uh, by a lot."

"No one asks for spinach."

"Unless they _like_ it."

"No one likes spinach enough to ask for it."

"_I_ do."

"And that makes you weird."

"Please, will you two stop it?" Dianne begged.

"Sorry," the two apologized.

Getting up to her feet, Olyvia walked over to Dianne and sat back down beside her, "How's the baby doing?"

"Demanding to be fed," Dianne replied, "How long do you think we're going to be stuck here?"

"Realistically, or hopefully?"

"Realistically."

"Probably a while," Olyvia said, "Like…I'd hate to say it but…two weeks? At least. Oh damn…I'm going to miss my first day of school! And then some! I'll be dropped from my classes! Oh god damn you A.I.M!"

Rosemary smacked her hands over her ears, not wishing to hear her sister's cursing.

Dianne sighed, "I thought that would be the case."

"I'm hoping to be busted out of here today, but I think we all know that's not going to happen," Olyvia said, "Why do you ask."

"I'm going to miss my doctor's appointment," Dianne said, running a hand over her belly, "I was going to have an ultrasound. Loki and I…we were going to find out the sex of the baby. At least hope to. It all depends on what position the little one is in."

"Oh Dianne, I'm so sorry," Olyvia said, knowing just how significant that moment would be to a couple expecting a child.

Dianne shrugged, "It's okay. It's not like the baby's gender will change depending on when I get the ultrasound."

"That's true, but still, when you finally get to find out, it's exciting."

Dianne nodded in agreement.

"What are you hoping for?" Olyvia asked.

"To get out of here."

"I mean gender-wise."

"I figured that was what you meant," Dianne said, "A boy."

"And Loki?"

"Boy."

"Of course."

"If we have a girl, that's perfectly fine too," Dianne said, "Except we haven't thought of any girl names yet."

"You've chosen a boy name already?"

"Jake."

Olyvia couldn't help but chuckle, "You've liked that name since we were…like two and three years old."

"It's a good name."

Olyvia nodded in agreement. It was a good name.

Nearly ten minutes later, the door opened yet again, and James came in with his hands and arms full of food and drinks. The door hadn't even shut all the way behind him when Dianne spoke up.

"I need to use the restroom."

James growled audibly, stopping the door from swinging shut with a foot and told the guard outside to keep it open for a little. He dropped off the food and drinks on a small table inside before motioning for Dianne to come with him. Olyvia offered her a hand up, and Dianne waddled after James, the door slamming shut behind them.

"Hey, they made me my spinach!" Rosemary said excitedly.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they dosed the food with tranquilizers," Olyvia said, "Knock us out to keep us quiet and leave them alone."

Rosemary pouted, "Thanks, now you've made me paranoid and I can't eat it."

"Sleeping won't kill you," Olyvia said, grabbing her sandwich and checking to see if there was any cheese in case James screwed up the order, which there was none, and took a bite.

Rosemary nodded in agreement, and grabbed her plate of spinach.

"Now poison," Olyvia went on, "That's a different story."

Rosemary had just been about to take a bite when Olyvia said that, and closed her mouth as she dropped her forkful of spinach back onto her plate, a scowl forming on her face.

"Thanks," she said bitterly.

"You're welcome."

Olyvia finished her sandwich and milk by the time Dianne returned, so just as James got inside announced her need to use a restroom as well. James looked like he was about to scream and go on a rampage as he turned back around and grabbed the door, motioning for her to follow.

"You better not try anything," James growled.

"I know better," Olyvia said, "I actually care about human life."

James stopped in front of a door, and motioned for Olyvia to go in, "You have two minutes."

"Two minutes!" Olyvia exclaimed, "You gave Dianne more time."

"That's because she's pregnant, I expect it to take longer."

"She's a girl, that's why it takes longer," Olyvia rebutted.

"Two minutes," James repeated.

"If I said I was pregnant, would I get more time?" Olyvia asked sarcastically.

"We've done our research about you," James said with a smirk, "We know you can't get pregnant."

Pain flashed across Olyvia's face and she almost smacked him, but caught herself in time. Instead she spat in his face.

"You're a bastard."

James scowled as he wiped away the spit from the corner of his right eye, "And you're a pain in the ass."

The two spent a few moments just glaring at each other before James spoke.

"One minute."

Olyvia let out a flurry of curse words, all directed towards him as she shoved open the door and stomped inside. James leaned against the wall, a smirk on his face as he looked at his watch to keep the time. Olyvia was certainly the feisty one.

* * *

Another boring six hours had passed in the room before anything remotely exciting occurred. Rosemary and Olyvia were playing hand games when Olyvia stopped, cocking her head to the side to listen. James, having seen her do this countless times before, decided to ask exactly what she was doing.

"What are you doing?"

"Um…nothing, obviously," Olyvia said, "I thought you'd be able to tell that by the boredom just exuding off of me."

"You look like you're listening for something, what are you listening for?"

"I thought you did your research on me," Olyvia quipped.

James was about to go over and teach her a lesson for being cheeky with him when the door was unlocked, opened, and another person was tossed in.

"Pepper!" the three girls exclaimed.

"Great, another one," James groaned.

Rosemary was the first one to go over to Pepper, who was actually conscious, "Pepper? You okay?"

"No," Pepper replied as if that were the obvious answer, "I've been kidnapped and taken God knows where, and…and I'm bleeding."

Pepper lightly dabbed at the cut on her head, wincing as her fingers brushed over the sensitive skin. Olyvia came over and gave it a closer look before giving her diagnosis.

"It's really only a scrape, nothing too bad," Olyvia said, "It should stop bleeding soon. I'd expect it to be sore for a while though, since it's in a tender area."

"How did they get you?" Rosemary asked.

"I was in Washington, for business," Pepper said, "I was headed to the hotel when…I was grabbed. Everything after that is…a bit of a blur."

"You were probably drugged," Olyvia said, shooting a glare at James, "They seem to enjoy doing that."

"Any more wise-cracks, and I just might do it again," James said, "Or just shoot you to end my misery."

"You said we couldn't try to escape or fight you," Olyvia said, "Didn't say anything about not annoying the hell out of you."

"Keep it up and I might add it to the list."

"Isn't your _boss_ the one with the power to do that though? And I doubt little soldier boy would have the guts to suggest amending the rules."

Sick and tired of her impudence, James used the butt of his rifle to hit her across the jaw. Pepper screamed in horror seeing him hit her, and so hard there was blood. Olyvia squeezed her eyes shut to push back the pain, blinking them open a few seconds later and turned to glare up at James.

"I could do this all day," she hissed.

With another twitch of his shoulders, the rifle butt hit her again, harder this time and she found herself lying on the floor.

"Right," he said smugly.

"I'm starting to think you _like_ getting hit," Dianne said as her sister pushed herself back up into a sitting position, nursing her jaw with a hand.

James squeezed his eyes shut as pain erupted in his head, glimpses of…a familiar face flashing through his head as the pain threatened to split his skull. Lifting a hand to his head, he massaged his temples with his fingers and thumb, trying to dull the pain. More images flashed through his head before they disappeared, but the pain…it was unbearable. He needed to get out of here. Heading over to the door, he radioed to the guard outside to let him out.

The girls seeing this, just watched him curiously as he nearly stumbled over to the door, looking pained, and radioed out. When the door slammed shut behind him, they all looked at each other.

"What do you think that was about?" Pepper asked.

"I don't know…but at least he's gone," Olyvia muttered bitterly.

* * *

At the helicarrier, Stark was escorted directly to his lab where he was to continue researching A.I.M and where they might be. Steve and Loki, with nothing else to do, went with him to watch, after Steve had someone take the dart he had as evidence to someone to analyze it. The two didn't talk, stayed out of Stark's way, and did their best not to pace in their anxiety. They didn't want to disrupt Stark while he was working.

"Do you think Pepper will be alright?" Loki asked Steve after nearly an hour of silence.

Steve sighed, "I hope so. Do you know if Stark has tried contacting her again?"

Loki shrugged, "I don't know. He's been rather focused on his research."

Nodding in agreement, Steve looked over to Stark, and all the screens that had something running on them. He was completely absorbed into the work.

"Oh I hope Dianne will be alright," Loki sighed heavily.

"I'm sure she will," Steve said, "If Olyvia is with her, then she'll keep Dianne safe."

"Then I hope she's with her."

Silence fell between them once again, and both started swaying anxiously, wanting to pace, but wanted to be sure they'd stay out of Stark's way. He was constantly running to and fro from computers and desks in the room, grabbing papers and pens, jotting down notes, then back to the computers to insert some data. It was a few hours later that Agent Hill entered the room.

"Your fiancée has been captured as well," she informed Stark, who stopped in the middle of what he was doing, "I'm sorry, we were unable to get there in time."

She didn't stay to see if Stark would say anything else, turning on her heel and striding back out of the room. Loki and Steve looked at each other with a concerned countenance before looking over to Stark again. He stayed frozen in his hunched position over the keyboard before he suddenly slammed his fist onto the podium it was set on, beating his fist on it over and over. Steve rushed over and grabbed his hand before he did damage to the computer system or further damage to his fist, his knuckles already cut and bleeding.

"I'm sorry Stark," Steve said quietly.

"I don't need your sympathy," Stark said lowly.

Steve let go of Stark's wrist, and after taking in a few deep breaths, Stark went back to work.

"Found anything yet?" Steve dared to ask.

"No," Stark replied tersely, whipping a few things around on the screen, "JARVIS still hasn't come up with an identity for any of the men caught on the video, and so far we haven't found any activity by A.I.M that would lead us to a hideout. It's almost like they just…vanished."

"We know that can't happen though, right?" Steve asked.

"Not unless they have Asgardian magic," Loki said, "Which I doubt they have."

Loki was then struck with an idea, "If I'm able to get in contact with Asgard, I could speak with Heimdall. He could locate them."

"Who's Heimdall?" Steve asked.

"And how can he locate the girls?" Stark asked.

"He is all-seeing," Loki explained, "He works for my father and the one who informs him when we require their aide. If he knows who to look for, and which Universe, he can find them…usually."

"Usually?" Stark asked skeptically.

"Well if they're using magic to hide themselves, he can't find them," Loki said, "Though I doubt A.I.M knows such magic."

"So…how do you get in contact with Asgard?" Steve asked.

"Scream at the sky until this Heimdall notices?" Stark ventured a guess.

"Basically," Loki replied, "It looks silly, and can take a while, but he does take notice… eventually."

"You know, I'm not liking this usually and eventually," Stark said.

"But it might work faster than your…computer stuff here," Loki rebutted.

"Are you doubting my abilities?"

"Just doubting how quickly the computer will find anything," Loki replied, "Your ability to type and input data is only part of the equation, and a little one at that, so no, I do not doubt your abilities."

Stark huffed loudly and twirled around on the balls of his feet, and began furiously typing away on the keyboard. Loki didn't understand how he could still take offense to that, it wasn't an insult.

"Go ahead and start shouting to the sky then," Stark said, "We'll only just think you're crazy and belong in a straight jacket, in a padded room."

Loki frowned, "Fine, we'll try it your way for a while then."

"I have something that might help," they heard Fury say from behind.

All three spun around to look at Fury as he walked in, the electronic doors still in the process of shutting behind him. He handed Steve a manila folder, and handed Stark a USB drive.

"The police that questioned Captain Rogers' neighbors received some information that may help us," Fury began, "All the neighbors questioned positively identified a vehicle fleeing the scene when they went to investigate the gunshots. The description is in the folder. The USB drive contains a video the police acquired from a traffic cam, but with their limited technology, were unable to make any positive identification of the driver. I want you to work on that right away."

Stark nodded and plugged the USB drive into the computer. Opening the file, Steve looked through for the truck description. It was a light tan 2009 dodge ram, the license plate number written in next to it. It was really close in description to his own truck, which wouldn't have turned out well for him if the neighbors thought it was his, then the police would have _tried_ to arrest him. Steve was grateful Olyvia had a great dislike for American made vehicles and made sure he bought a Toyota. No one would mistake a Toyota for a Dodge. And as for the police trying to arrest him, he wouldn't have fought back, he was just sure S.H.I.E.L.D would have gotten him out since they needed him. For fighting at least. The sort of stuff Stark was doing he was pretty useless at.

"So what is the vehicle I'm looking for Cap?" Stark asked, pulling up the video.

Steve looked up from the folder and to the video on the screen. Searching amongst the vehicles passing through an intersection in Ashland, he spotted the truck and told Stark to freeze it, then pointed it out to him.

"Okay, enhancing image, as best I can since resolution is crappy on traffic cams," Stark muttered to himself, closing in on the windshield and selecting the area the driver's seat would be and placed the picture of it in a separate window on the same screen. With the zoomed in picture, they could vaguely tell that it was even human, but were certain on the gender, which was male.

"JARVIS, clean this photo up as best you can," Stark ordered the A.I.

Replying in the affirmative, JARVIS went ahead with the job. Steve squinted up at the photo. There was something…eerily familiar about the face. After a few seconds of JARVIS working on sharpening the picture, Steve's eyes grew wide as his jaw dropped.

"Oh my God," he muttered.

"What?" Loki asked.

"He wasn't asking for you, I'm sure," Stark said.

Loki growled in frustration, "I know that! I'm asking what is it that caused such a reaction! So Steve, what is it?"

"This…this can't be right," Steve continued to ramble, "It's impossible."

"What's impossible?" Stark asked.

"That's Bucky!" Steve exclaimed, "My…my friend Bucky from…from when I grew up in Brooklyn. In the twenties through forties."

"Uh…are you sure it's him?" Stark asked, "Because I doubt he'd look this young still."

"It looks just like him!" Steve replied, a little louder than necessary, "I'd never mistake Bucky for someone else! But…but I guess it has to be, because it's impossible."

"Well, was he frozen in ice too or something?" Stark asked.

"He died Stark," Steve replied, "And it was my fault. There is…there is _no way_ he survived."

"How do you know that? I mean…it looks like he possibly did…and had a lot of plastic surgery done if he's really over ninety-five years old."

Steve was starting to get really frustrated with Stark, he just wasn't getting it, "He fell, from a train, into a _canyon_!"

"Well did you find the body?" Stark asked.

Sorrow and guilt welled up in Steve's chest. He had always felt horrible they were unable to go back and find the body to give Bucky a proper funeral.

"We never went back," Steve replied quietly.

"So…there is still the possibility he survived," Stark said.

"I guess…but how?"

"How did you survive?"

"I was frozen in ice," Steve replied, "And had the serum in my body so being frozen didn't kill me. Bucky he—," Steve stopped. Was it possible there was something in Bucky that caused him to survive? When he found him in Schmidt's factory, he was in a lab room, strapped to the table. Had they been running experiments on him? Serum experiments? But why would Schmidt do that if he was already affected by the serum? To make himself even stronger perhaps? Steve pressed his hands to his temples. He was getting a headache, this was too much.

"He…what?" Stark asked.

"He…didn't have the serum," Steve replied.

"Well, let's assume this is Bucky, how does it help us find the girls?"

Steve sighed, "It doesn't."

"Maybe, maybe not," Stark said, turning back to the computer, "We'll see. Now that we have a face, and a name to match, we might make some progress. So what's his full name?"

Steve gave Stark the full name before wandering over to a chair and sitting down in it. How was it possible for Bucky to be alive? And why was he working for the bad guys? That wasn't like him. Asking questions now weren't going to get him anywhere though, for there weren't any answers just yet.

* * *

Steve and Loki found out later that Bruce was on the helicarrier, so they went and spoke with him for a while, to give Stark a break. Steve asked how Olyvia's blood test results were coming along, and Bruce told him he was nearly done, he just had a few more to do to clarify some differences found in the tests already ran versus previous ones, which made Steve panic. Of all times for the mutation to come back, it had to be _now_ when she was kidnapped and not where she could be treated. Bruce didn't say whether it was good or bad differences, only that there were differences, but of course Steve thought of the worst thing possible.

Bruce was also the one who ran analysis on the dart Steve brought, which turned out to be a tranquilizer, as Steve expected. He was just glad to know that Oscar would be fine and hadn't been secretly poisoned. He didn't really have much of a chance to see how he was doing at the Vet's, only to ask if they could keep an eye on him while he was gone.

After a few days, they hadn't gotten any closer to finding where the girls had been taken. Steve and Loki spent most of their time in the computer lab where Stark worked, so they could be there when he did find any leads.

It was after having lunch they were sitting in there, watching as images flashed across the screens, when Bruce entered. He looked over to Steve, opened his mouth, and then closed it, looking as if he were debating over what to say, or if he _should_ say anything. Seeing this, Steve's stomach twisted into knots. That looked like bad news.

Bruce took a few steps closer before turning around and leaving. A few seconds later, he came back in, did the same exact thing about being unsure what to do before leaving again.

"Something the matter Bruce?" Stark asked with a confused look when he entered for the third time.

"I uh…I have something to tell Steve," Bruce replied quietly.

Steve got to his feet and walked over to the doctor, "What is it? Is it about Olyvia's blood tests?"

Bruce wrung his hands together and bit his lower lip before reluctantly nodding. Steve's stomach grew even heavier and twisted itself into even tighter knots.

"It's bad…isn't it?"

Bruce opened his mouth, uttered a few monosyllabic words before turning around and leaving again. Tears stung Steve's eyes. It had to be bad to get that reaction.

"Bruce please…," Steve said as the doctor slowly inched his way back inside, "Just tell me. The mutation is back…isn't it?"

Bruce looked over to Stark, silently asking for help, but Stark held up his hands and backed away, "No way, this is all you."

Bruce took in a deep breath. He had to tell Steve, he _needed _to know.


	6. Chapter 6

**I apologize for my tardiness again. January and February just…sucked for me, I had no motivation to write at all. At any rate, I've finally got this chapter done.**

**harrylee94: You'll see :)**

**m9ower: Did you guess right?**

**Aya-Shoru: You can't kill me though, because then there would be no more! Mwuahaha! Although you can hurt me…**

**Larryeneno: You'll see soon.**

**Avalongirl55: I am giving them a break…sort of…okay, I'm being a little mean to Olyvia this chapter, but not what you think it is.**

**Lollypops101: :) You'll see**

**Kate499: You'll see, and yes James is Bucky.**

**lovinlife83: Sorry for taking so long…I'll try better this time!**

**MorWolfMor: Yeah, it's kind of hard to stay out of trouble when you're a part of shield and the Avengers.**

**FrancyPantsFrance: But I LOVE writing cliffhangers. And I'm glad you like the stories! XD**

**Dr. Huff-Puff: Yes…a lot has been going on. And there will be much more!**

**CHAPTER SIX**

Steve waited anxiously for Bruce to speak. He wanted to know _now_ what he found in Olyvia's blood test. He expected to hear the mutation was back, from Bruce's behavior. Bad news now would only lead to problems further down the road, being unable to give her immediate treatment.

"So…Olyvia's blood test," Bruce began, "Well…as I told you before, I found some discrepancies between these recent tests, and previous tests. So…I ran a few others and uh…I found…oh geez I really don't know how to say this."

"Dude, just spit it out already," Stark said in exasperation.

"Please," Steve added.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair, "Um…well um…Olyvia had elevated levels of hcg, human chorionic gonadotropin, in her blood."

Steve's brow furrowed in confusion while Stark's jaw dropped and his eyes widened, muttering a quiet, "Oh."

Looking from Stark to Bruce, Steve was starting to get even more confused, and worried, "What? What is hcg? Explain please! I don't know any medical…scientific jargon!"

"Olyvia's pregnant," Bruce replied.

Steve froze, and could only stare at Bruce in shock. Olyvia…pregnant? She really was? Steve began to feel lightheaded and weak in his knees from the shock, he just about fell over when Loki grabbed him by an arm and drug him over to a chair where he sat down heavily on it. Dropping his head into his hands, he took deep breaths to regain the air that somehow left him. Once the shock began to ebb away, he was overcome with joy, knowing he and Olyvia had finally conceived after months of trying and failing. Then he began to panic. Olyvia had no idea she was pregnant, neither did her captors. Either one of them could potentially harm the baby, and it would just _kill_ the both of them if she miscarried. Now Steve had an even greater reason to find Olyvia and get her back home safe, so that their baby could get the proper medical attention and care needed for it to grow healthy and strong.

"H-h-how?" Steve asked.

"Oh God, do we really have to have this talk with you?" Stark asked, "I mean…you _made_ the baby, don't you know _how_ you did it?"

Steve snapped his head up and glared at Stark, "That's not what I meant and you know it! I meant how was Olyvia _able_ to conceive? Dr. Banner, I know you said the possibility of her conceiving may have increased, but…even then that was little."

"Well…when you were given Dr. Erskine's super soldier serum, it changed your physical makeup, your DNA," Bruce went on to explain, "So everything that involves DNA within you…also changed and had an effect on Olyvia. Or namely, her egg."

"So instead of super soldier serum, he has super soldier—."

"Stark! You're foul!" Steve interrupted, knowing _exactly_ what he was going to say. He may be naïve in some areas, but he wasn't stupid.

"What?" Stark asked, as if he didn't think he had done anything wrong.

"Well, they do have a longer life span than average," Bruce added on to Stark's earlier comment, "Making them that much more persistent."

"I don't want a biology lesson! Please stop talking!" Steve said, slapping his hands over his ears as his face started turning red.

"Aw look, he's blushing," Stark taunted.

With a glare, Steve stood back up, letting his hands drop to his sides again, "Enough making fun of me, we need to get back to work and find the girls!"

As much as it pained Stark to do it, he kept the rest of his comments to himself, and turned back to the computer to get back to work. Steve had to sit back down again, still overwhelmed by the news. First he found Bucky was still alive, possibly, and now that his wife is pregnant. This changed everything, they couldn't take their time anymore, they needed to find them as soon as possible.

* * *

"I _need_ to go to the _bathroom_," Olyvia whined, "Like _now_!"

"You went two hours ago!" James exclaimed.

"And I need to go again!" Olyvia argued, "Do you really want me wetting my pants?"

James glared at her, "You just might have to for me to believe you."

Olyvia whimpered, she couldn't _handle_ how badly she needed to go, and James just wasn't understanding, not letting her go. She had no clue _why_ she had to go this badly after only two hours, perhaps she had drank more water than she thought. It sort of hurt she had to go that badly.

"Please, please, please, _please_," Olyvia pleaded from where she lay on her side on the floor.

James stared at her in disbelief. Did she honestly have to go that bad to _beg_?

"Could I go too?" Dianne asked.

With an irritated sigh, he radioed the guards outside to open the door, and once it was propped open, motioned the girls to follow. Olyvia got to her feet as fast as she dared to so as to not wet her pants, helped Dianne to her feet, and the two followed James out. Reaching the restroom, Dianne motioned for Olyvia to go first.

"Two minutes," James said as she rushed inside after saying a thank you to Dianne for letting her go first.

"Whatever asshole!"

James rolled his eyes, and glanced at his watch to keep the time. Olyvia was out thirty seconds before her time, and glared at him when he gave four and a half minutes to Dianne.

"You really are an asshole," Olyvia growled.

"I'm just doing my job," James retorted.

"And that is to be particularly mean to me?" Olyvia asked, "Of course, what should I expect from the bad guy?"

She turned to head back to their holding room, only to have James grab her by the arm, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to my prison cell," Olyvia replied, "Where else would I be going?"

"You aren't allowed to go without an escort."

"Like I'd try anything when you still have my sisters!" Olyvia shouted, pulling her arm from his hold.

He went to grab her again, and she flailed her arm about to try to avoid him grabbing her, only to elbow him in his left arm, which hurt and sent that funny, tickling feeling through her forearm.

"Ah! Funny bone!" Olyvia exclaimed, grabbing her elbow, "Geez, what is up with your arm? Is it made of steel or something?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," James said, taking the opportunity to grab her and drag her back to the wall where she was supposed to stay put.

Olyvia glared at him, waiting a few seconds before poking him in the face.

"You're pushing it Rogers," James hissed, only to have another headache hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I was just seeing if your head was also as hard as a rock, which would explain some things about you," Olyvia rebutted, not noticing the pained expression flash across his face since she turned away, "but I'm guessing it's just your arm. I guess you're just a numbskull naturally then."

"Shut up," James growled.

"Is it armor?" Olyvia asked, "Or a prosthetic?"

"It's none of your business."

"I'm going to guess prosthetic from how defensive you're becoming."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" James hissed, shooting a glare at her.

Olyvia crossed her arms and turned away, only to look back at him a few seconds later, "How did you lose it?"

"I already told you, it's none of your _business_," James replied irritably, "Why do you care anyway?"

"Oh, I don't care," Olyvia replied, "I'm just nosey. Not one of my better qualities."

"Just like your annoying, talkative manner," James retorted.

"Uh, have you been listening to the conversations in the prison cell? Rosemary is the one who is talkative, Mr. Cyborg."

"Yet you can't stop talking now, even after I've told you to shut up," James growled.

"It's because annoying you is the only entertaining pastime," Olyvia rebutted, "If you gave me some music to listen to, or even a board game to play, maybe I'd shut up."

"You're prisoners, you don't get any special treatment."

Olyvia didn't bother with a retort, just continuing to grouse. After a few moments of silence James spoke again.

"I don't remember anyways, so even if I felt so inclined to tell you, I couldn't."

"Don't remember what again?" Olyvia asked. She had gotten a bit lost on what she had been hounding him with.

James didn't seem to appreciate the fact that she had forgotten already, narrowing his eyes at her, but he answered anyway, "My arm."

"Oh," Olyvia muttered. Though she didn't care for the guy, she couldn't help but think that perhaps that was a good thing, not being able to remember such a traumatic experience.

Dianne exited the restroom not much later and James escorted the girls back to their prison, for once in complete silence. James didn't go in to keep an eye on them, instead sending someone else in before walking away, massaging his head with his right hand, as if pained him. Dianne and Olyvia looked at him in confusion as he walked away before the door shut.

"Do you think he has chronic headaches?" Olyvia asked, "Because he seems to get them a lot."

Dianne shrugged, "I don't know, maybe it's just you giving him a headache."

"Hey!"

"You are annoying Livy," Dianne said bluntly, "_I've_ been getting headaches from you bickering with him."

Olyvia pouted and helped her sister sit back down onto her pillow, "So are you saying you want me to stop bugging him?"

"At least stop being so annoying that you bug us," Dianne reiterated.

"Fine," Olyvia sighed, sitting down next to her sister, "I'll try."

* * *

After being in complete silence for a good half hour, James's headache was finally starting to dissipate. He couldn't believe how much of a pain that Olyvia was, yet…there was this odd feeling inside him whenever he argued with her, since that's _all_ they ever did, something that he could only explain as…satisfaction. He _enjoyed_ arguing with her, until he got one massive headache like he was hit with a ton of bricks. He couldn't explain how they came on, except that images would flash through his head anytime it happened. It would probably be best if he just kept his distance from the girls, since they seemed to be the cause of the problem, Olyvia mostly. And how anyone could enjoy arguing, he had no idea, but for some masochistic reason, he did.

Heading to the surveillance room, he checked to see just how his replacement was doing with the girls. He was standing in the one corner while the four girls huddled together at the opposite corner. Olyvia and Rosemary appeared to be attempting to play some hand game while the other two just napped. He stared at Olyvia's face on the screen, eyes narrowed to show his displeasure, when that star spangled Avenger's face popped into his head. Once again a sharp pain erupted in his skull, dropping his head into a hand, along with that rise of jealousy within his chest. It frustrated him, that annoying, persistent emotion. Why was he feeling this way? He knew neither Olyvia or her husband, the Captain, Steve Rogers, though that name caused his head to pound something awful, so why did he feel… jealous? Jealous of what? Or who?

James snapped his head up to look at the screen again. No…it couldn't be that. She was a royal pain in his ass, he wouldn't have any feelings for _her_. He shouldn't feel anything for anyone, he was just a monster now, unfeeling.

Shaking his head, James turned and left the surveillance room. He needed to get out, get some fresh air to clear his head, then maybe things would start making sense.

* * *

The days continued to tick by, and soon it had been a week since Steve was made aware of his wife's condition, and the team still had yet to find a lead. Stark had hardly slept, working until the wee hours of the night trying to find something, anything, but to no avail. Steve wasn't sure if Loki slept at all, the Norse God spent all his time pacing around Stark's work room. There was literally a faint trail on the metal floor where he would walk around, and around, and around again.

"Loki, maybe you should sit down for a while," Steve said as his friend passed by him for the hundredth time that day.

Loki stopped with a sigh, turned to sit, but then turned again and resumed his pacing, "I can't. I'm stressing out, I can't remain still."

"You continue going around in laps much longer and you'll be paying to replace the floor," Stark commented from his work desk.

Loki shot a glare at the billionaire even though he wasn't looking him, "It's just about the only thing I can do. I'm useless here."

"You're not useless," Steve said.

"Well right now he sort of is," Stark interjected, "It's not like he can use the computers."

Steve gave Stark a disapproving look for that comment. Now Loki was looking even more dejected as he made another lap around the room.

"Have you even slept?" Steve asked once Loki came around again.

"No."

"How are you still standing then?"

Loki made another lap around the room before replying, "I'm a god. I don't exactly need much sleep to function."

"Surely you need _some_."

Loki shrugged, and went around the room once more, saying as he walked by Steve again, "Yes, and I am reaching my limit, but I just can't sleep."

"Have you tried?"

"Yes."

Steve just shook his head as Loki made yet another lap around the room. Loki wasn't doing himself any favors by purposely staying up all the time.

"Surely you know how I feel," Loki said as he came round, "I doubt you're getting much sleep either."

"No," Steve replied, "But at least I'm getting enough. What are you going to do when we discover where the girls are? Take a good long nap before we go so you're ready for a fight."

Loki opened his mouth to reply, but Steve made a good point. He slowed to a stop in his tracks before turning around and taking a seat next to Steve.

"That's a little better," Steve said, "But your room isn't far from here. I'm sure that'd be more comfortable."

"But I want to be here when Stark finds a lead."

"Seeing how things have been going the last week, I doubt it'll happen soon," Steve said.

"Whoa!" Stark suddenly exclaimed, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is happening here?"

Steve and Loki jumped up and hurried over to the work station to find a ton of windows on the screen start opening up. There had to be over a two dozen already, and Stark was frantically typing away on the keyboard, doing what the two didn't know.

"What's going on?" Loki asked.

"Well at first I thought maybe it was a virus," Stark said, disregarding the fact that Steve and Loki had no clue what he meant by that, "But now I see I am just being bombarded with information. JARVIS, did you just find this?"

"Yes sir," the A.I replied.

"Meaning you may know where the girls are being held?" Loki asked.

"Give me a minute, or more like an hour, to sift through all this _then_ I can tell you what I know," Stark replied.

"Now would probably be a good time for you to rest then," Steve said to Loki.

Loki nodded, "I guess…will someone inform me once you find something?"

Steve nodded to show he'd do it, and Loki slowly left the room, keeping his eyes on the large holographic screen as he did so. Stark continued typing for a few more seconds before stopping with a heavy sigh and glared at the keyboard.

"Everything alright?"

"It's not slowing down, and it's not stopping so I'm just going to sit here and wait until it's done," Stark said, then muttered, "Bet it _is_ a virus."

"How can computers get viruses?"

Stark rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to bother explaining that one to you."

The windows didn't stop popping up until there had to be over a hundred of them, and Stark dropped his head onto the desk with a groan.

"Do you want me to get Dr. Banner to help?" Steve asked.

Stark popped his head back up, "Yes that'd be great."

* * *

While Banner helped Stark sifting through the mounds of information on the computer, Steve decided it would be the perfect time for him to take a nap as well. Now that they were a step closer to finding Olyvia and the others, he was slightly less stressed so he could more easily relax. Laying on his bed, he began to miss his wife even more. He was so used to having her next to him, feeling her weight on the bed, especially as she flailed about like a fish trying to find a comfortable spot, usually hitting him in the process and stealing blankets. Steve didn't think he'd miss being elbowed in the side or face, but he did. He'd gladly be hit every night in the head if it meant she was back with him.

Sleep finally claimed him after laying there for quite some time, Steve guessing what had to be nearly an hour of him tossing and turning for a change. When he finally woke, it was starting to get dark outside. Glancing at the clock showed him he had slept for at least five hours. He had missed lunch too, and his stomach was quickly reminding him of that. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he got up and headed to the cafeteria to get himself an extra-large dinner. Before he left the rooming quarters, he went over to Loki's room to see how he was doing, whether he was awake or not, and if he had anything to eat yet either. No one answered when he knocked so he guessed we was either gone or still asleep so Steve decided not to bother him.

Once eating, Steve headed back to Stark's work room, he and Banner still the only ones in there and working feverishly over the computer desk.

"Found anything?" Steve asked.

"Great, he's back," Stark muttered, "I was getting used to the not pestering."

Steve frowned, and Bruce poked Stark with the capped end of a pen, only to get the pen snatched away from him and tossed back at his face. Bruce retaliated by crumpling up a spare piece of paper and throwing it at Stark, which bounced off his head and landed on the floor.

"I'm assuming that means no," Steve said once the two were done squabbling.

"No, we've found a few things," Bruce replied, "Articles mostly, of world events which A.I.M was behind. Quite a few assassinations too."

"And it seems your friend Bucky keeps popping up from the late forties to the mid-sixties," Stark added, "JARVIS found him in quite a few photos, some associated with said assassinations."

"_What_?"

"What what?" Stark asked in reply, "You don't think him capable of killing people?"

"These people who were assassinated…were they the enemy?"

"His enemy yes, but ours…no," Stark replied, "So it looks like he's been playing for the other team for quite some time."

Steve groaned and ran his hands through his hair, "It doesn't make any sense though. Bucky would never have done that! He was a patriot through and through."

"Did he wear a flag as a costume?"

That earned another glare from Steve, "No, but you don't have to, to be a patriot."

"Says the walking flag," Stark muttered.

"Enough of this," Steve said sternly, "Any clues as to where A.I.M's base might be?"

"They're mentioned all over the world," Bruce replied, "The states, Canada, Europe, Asia, so far, not one place in my reading has been mentioned twice."

With a sorrowful sigh, Steve sat down in a nearby chair and slumped over. And here he thought they were finally going to find some good news.

"We're not even halfway through though," Bruce quickly added, "We may still find something."

"Maybe having some food to fuel our brains would help," Stark said, giving Steve a pointed look.

"Yeah, some food sounds good," Bruce added.

Steve looked up to find the two staring at him, and with a sigh stood up, "Fine, I'll bring you some dinner. Don't complain over what I get you though."

* * *

Loki woke a few hours later and headed straight back to the work room to see if any progress was made. He received pretty much the same report Steve got, except the fact that Bruce was starting to find multiple reports of A.I.M in the U.S, which was a good sign. They were hoping their main base was still in the country so the girls hadn't been taken too far. And it took almost a direct order from Steve to get Loki to get a bite to eat since the god just about refused to leave the room until A.I.M's base was found.

"I don't understand why you both are hovering," Stark said once Loki returned with his dinner, "Going through all this data can take _days_."

"You might run across something useful in the meantime," Loki replied, "Which is why I'm not leaving."

Stark just shook his head and returned to his work. He'd just have to do his best to ignore the two.

* * *

James headed outside the compound, the sea salt assaulting his senses once he stepped out the front doors. Modok had called for him so he left his post in the holding room to see what it was he wanted now. The robotic creature was hovering near the three foot cement wall along the cliff side of their base, the ocean waves crashing against the rocky wall fifty feet below. As James got closer, he noticed a few other soldiers tossing buckets of…something over the side into the water.

"You summoned me?" James asked once he reached Modok's side.

"Any progress made into discovering S.H.I.E.L.D's location?" Modok asked.

"The other soldiers have run into their agents a few times, but the location of their base is unknown still," James replied, "Why, do you believe our prisoners know?"

"I'm going to find out," Modok said, turning around to face James, showing a nefarious grin across his features, "I was thinking, why bother trying to draw out the Avengers when I can deal with them _and_ S.H.I.E.L.D in one fell swoop, when they so foolishly gather in just one place."

James nodded, showing he understood, "So…you intend to interrogate our prisoners and then just…dispatch them?"

"Well, if they know nothing I might just terrorize them a little but put them back in their cage," Modok said, "Our original plan will just have to do. Now if they disclose the location of their base…I just might dispose of them."

James's heart began to pound loudly in his chest. For some reason he was against just killing them off. He knew for one that it would be difficult for him to kill that Dianne girl, with her being pregnant. He never liked killing children, and was only slightly against killing women.

"Though we could probably still use them as bait," Modok continued, "In case those pesky Avengers still survive."

"So how do you expect to get them to talk?" James asked.

Modok's grin grew bigger, "Oh, I have an idea."

"Is that what this is all about then?" James questioned, motioning to more soldiers tossing the contents of their buckets over the edge.

"Why yes, yes it is."

* * *

When James was called out, the girls couldn't help but worry. He had only been called out a few times before, and nothing good ever happened when he was. So when he returned and told them to all get up and follow him, their stomachs turned to lead and sunk to the floor. The fact that he had almost a remorseful look on his face said something. They were taken outside, where they all blinked wildly from the sudden brightness. It was warm, almost uncomfortably warm, and the cries of gulls and the roaring sound of waves and the salty air instantly gave away they were on the ocean.

Dianne, Rosemary and Pepper were rudely shoved into a large steel cage by another A.I.M soldier, while James put Olyvia in a different one, which was slightly smaller, the metal weaker looking, and had a thick rope tied to the top that was fed through a winch on a crane.

"That doesn't look good," Olyvia muttered.

"For your own sake, I suggest you answer his questions honestly, and quickly," James said quietly to her as he locked the door, "And _don't_ get cheeky with him."

"Oh since when did you have a heart?" Olyvia said darkly, "I figured that was made out of metal too."

"Why is Livy in that cage?" Rosemary asked, "And why is it hooked up to a crane?"

"Shut up Rosemary," Dianne chided.

James stepped away from Olyvia's cage and Modok hovered closer.

"Your precious Avengers are taking their precious time trying to find you and I grow impatient so I want to know, where is their base?" Modok asked, "Where is S.H.I.E.L.D?"

Olyvia crossed her arms and glared at him in reply. James just shook his head, she was going to regret that.

"Let's give the others a good view of what happens when someone doesn't offer an answer right away, shall we?" Modok said, and nodded over to another minion who was in the crane.

The agent hoisted Olyvia's cage up, as well as the one the rest of the girls were in. Olyvia was jostled around, but she quickly caught her balance by grabbing onto the metal bars of her cage. Modok didn't even bother asking again as she was swung over the cliff edge while the others were just at the edge. Olyvia looked down in horror, looking at the choppy red surf from the A.I.M agents chumming the waters, which attracted already two sharks, big ones, ones she easily recognized as the most feared. Freaking Great Whites.

"I don't know where the helicarrier is!" Olyvia shouted frantically, "We're always taken to it by other agents, we don't know how to find it. All I know is it's somewhere on the east coast!"

Modok pursed his lips, "Not quite the answer I wanted, but you certainly talked fast."

"Please put me back on the ground," Olyvia begged, tears streaming down her face. Her heart already was going a million beats a minute and was quickly going into a panic attack.

"She gave you an answer sir," James said, "And it sounds genuine to me, I see no further reason to interrogate her."

"But where's the fun in that?" Modok asked with a nefarious grin.

Raising his hand, Modok motioned to the crane operator and Olyvia let out a blood curdling scream as she dropped, and plunged into the water below. Body freezing up in terror, it took every ounce of strength she had to tear her fingers away from the bars, wanting to keep as much space she could between her and the sharp teeth of the curious creatures. She involuntarily screamed again as one bumped against her cage. Now she was completely out of breath.

"LIVY!" Dianne and Rosemary screamed as their sister dropped out of sight below the water.

"You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" Rosemary shrieked at Modok, "She gave you an answer! Bring her back up right now!"

"I don't take orders from the likes of you," Modok growled back.

"Sir, I doubt she has much air," James said, "If you wish to still have a prisoner, I suggest bringing her back up."

"Oh right, that is true…just a few more seconds."

It was more like ten more seconds before Modok gave the okay to bring the cage back up. Olyvia was slumped down on the bottom, white as a sheet and coughing up water. Before it was swung back over though, Modok signaled to the agent again, and down she went once more.

"You bastard!" Dianne roared at him, "You just wait until we get out of here, I'm going to tear you apart, piece by piece, then I'm going to hand you over to Steve!"

James's head panged with pain at the mention of the Captain's name, but he managed to quickly shake it off.

Modok rolled his eyes and began to hover off, "Winter Soldier, you take care of this, I have things to do now."

"Yes sir," James said, and wasted no time to order the agent in the crane to pull Olyvia back up.

Both cages were brought back over to the solid ground, and though the other A.I.M agents tried keeping the girls in line, Rosemary and Dianne pushed their way through to get over to Olyvia, who James was pulling out of the cage.

"Livy, are you okay?" Dianne asked, kneeling down next to her sister, despite the difficulty to do so with her swollen belly.

Olyvia merely broke into tears, unable to word her feelings. One hand was scratched up and bleeding, but that appeared to be the only physical damage.

"Head back to your room," James ordered the girls, giving Rosemary a push to get back, "Your sister will join you shortly."

Rosemary shot a glare at James before offering Dianne a hand up, and the two were escorted back into the building. Olyvia was still a whimpering mess so James had to pick her up and just about drag her back inside. He didn't take her straight back to the room though, instead he took her to the shower room and set her down in a chair.

"I'll give you fifteen minutes to get cleaned up," James said, grabbing a pair of black sweats and a plain yellow shirt from a nearby locker, "Then you go back to the room."

She did nothing but stare blankly ahead, but James didn't wait to get a reply from her, honestly he didn't expect one, and just left. He waited outside the fifteen minutes, and when the time dialed down to zero and she hadn't come out yet, he decided to give her a few more minutes. Once those were gone too, and she hadn't left yet, he went back inside.

"Whether you're decent or not, I'm coming in," he said as he headed back towards the stall he left her at.

Olyvia was in the chair, but in the dry clothes, and she was running her fingers through her hair, as if trying to brush it. She was still as pale as a sheet, and staring off into space. With a sigh, James pulled out a comb and handed it to her. She looked at the comb, then glared at James as she took it and began to comb her hair.

"You're welcome," James said sarcastically.

"I didn't thank you," Olyvia said venomously, "Why would I after what you just did?"

"What _I_ just did?" James asked incredulously, "That was _all_ Modok. I had nothing to do with the idea. And I warned you to answer him."

"He still did it," Olyvia snapped, "And I bet he would have still if I answered right away."

She had a point, and James couldn't argue. He was certain Modok would have dropped her into the water just out of spite.

"I'm…sorry," James said quietly.

Olyvia scoffed, "Right. You sorry? I highly doubt that. You need a heart first."

Standing up, she headed for the door, but James grabbed her by the arm, stopping her and turning her to face him.

"I mean it Olyvia," James said, looking into her eyes, "Our intention isn't to hurt you."

"At least not yet," Olyvia retorted.

They stared at each other for a few moments, before James found himself following through with the irresistible urge that set upon him. His hand grabbed onto the nape of her neck, and pulled her face to his, their lips clashing together. They had hardly touched though before Olyvia's hands lashed out and hit him in the chest, either snapping or cracking a few ribs, and sent him flying into the wall.

"What…_the hell_?" Olyvia shrieked at him, "Not only are you the enemy, I am f-f-freaking _married_!"

James said nothing, still a little confused himself as to why he did it. He pushed himself away from the wall, cringing as his ribs panged in his chest. Didn't feel broken at least, but still how was he going to explain this one in the infirmary?

"Touch me again, and I will not hesitate to rip your head off," Olyvia said darkly, "Are we clear?"

James nodded, and doing his best to not show how much pain he was in, headed to the door. Olyvia followed a good five feet behind him until she had to pass him to enter their holding room. Once she was inside, James shut the door and headed back down the hall. He was debating on whether or not to go to the infirmary. If he did, they'd ask how it happened and he wasn't about to confess what he did in the wrong, that the prisoner had every right for hurting him, so he'd have to lie and say he either hurt himself, or she attacked him. Neither one had a promising ending. So James decided he'd just wait it out until something else happened that he could blame.

* * *

Olyvia didn't say a word to her sisters about what transpired between her and James. She was furious beyond belief with him kissing her. When she got the chance, she was just going to punch his lights out, just for that.

Dianne and Rosemary were also livid about the fact Modok tortured Olyvia in the manner he did. Somehow he must have known her intense fear of sharks. Dianne looked over Olyvia's scratched hand once she returned, which the bleeding had nearly stopped so she wasn't as worried about it. The fact she was allowed to clean up reduced the chance of infection at least.

"So how did this happen?" Rosemary asked, pointing to the raw skin on the back of her sister's hand.

"I hit the shark," Olyvia replied, shuddering at the thought.

"Meaning you punched it?"

"No, it swam next to the cage and my hand was out too far," Olyvia replied, "Shark skin is very rough if you rub it the wrong way."

"Oh…I didn't know that," Rosemary muttered.

"I wish I didn't have firsthand experience," Olyvia growled.

"Literally?" Dianne said with a grin, holding up Olyvia's hand.

"Ha, very funny," Olyvia said bitterly, pulling her hand back.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood."

"That might take a bit."

* * *

A few more days passed, and James's cracked ribs were already feeling better. Still sore, but better. He was expecting it to take longer for him to heal, but he was considerably grateful for his quick healing when he was once again called to see Modok.

"You called for me sir," James said as he entered his boss's lab, where he spent all his time planning and plotting.

Modok swiveled his chair around to where he was looking at his soldier, a victorious gleam in his eyes, "I have a mission for you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay! We have another chapter! Let's hope fanfiction will stop being difficult and actually send notifications this time. At any rate…I don't think there will be many chapters left until we're finished.**

**FrancyPantsFrance: Yay for Livy! Question is now, will it stick? The first twelve weeks have the highest chance of miscarriage. (Have I gotten you nervous yet?)**

**harrylee94: Again, I didn't make it too hard to guess. Or am I just that predictable? What can I say, it's hard for me to make characters miserable, but I will do it if I feel it necessary. I think we need a little James fan flag to root him on, he's going to have a tough time this chapter and next.**

**Dr. Huff-Puff: It happens now because I am EVIL! And the stress that's put on her is definitely dangerous for that little one…**

**MorWolfMor: Big time trouble. With Steve. Nobody gets away with kissing his wife except him.**

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

"We need to get out of here," Rosemary growled as she glared at the door, just a few hours after the interrogation, "We've been here a month, and I want to go home."

"They'll kill us if we tried," Dianne grumbled, "Besides, where is here anyway? How would we know where to go?"

"Well, based off of my calculations," Olyvia said from where she was laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, "I think we're somewhere in Southern California or Mexico."

The sisters looked at each other in confusion, glancing over to Pepper who only shrugged, before looking to Olyvia, "And just how did you calculate that?" Dianne asked.

"Firstly," Olyvia began, sitting upright and holding up her index finger for the number one, "We are on the coast, and it being September now, it's warm. Not hot, but warm. Secondly, the ocean water is comfortably warm. Not as warm as the east coast like Florida, but warm. Thirdly," Olyvia took in a deep breath and said in a tone that sounded like it was meant for Gollum, "_Great Whites_."

"Aren't there Great Whites on the east coast too?" Rosemary asked.

"Water wasn't warm enough."

"Rosemary, you're not helping. Livy, Livy, stop and breathe," Dianne said, seeing her sister was starting to lose it again.

Olyvia was taking fast heavy breaths, eyes wide, looking a little crazy, before taking in one deep breath, holding it for a good ten seconds, then let it out.

"Better?"

"I hate sharks."

"We knew that, okay so Southern California," Dianne said, getting her sister back on track, "How does that help us?"

"It doesn't," Olyvia groaned, laying back down and rolling over onto her stomach.

"Not true," Dianne said, "If we do get out of here, we know we'll have to head east."

"Oh goodie, we've got a plan then," Olyvia said sarcastically, holding out a hand and making a thumbs down motion.

"You could try to be a little more optimistic," Dianne said blandly.

"Yeah," Rosemary agreed, "You've always been the optimistic one, what happened?"

"Mr. Gay Robot sucked it out of me."

Dianne strummed her fingers against her lower belly, frowning at her sister, when she suddenly jumped, her countenance changing to one of surprise. Laying her hand flat against her swollen belly, her face then lit up.

"The baby is kicking!" she just about squealed.

Rosemary let out an excited squeal as she scooted closer to her sister and Olyvia flipped herself back over and sat upright.

"Let me feel! Let me feel!" Rosemary exclaimed, holding her hand out to her sister so she could put it on the right spot.

Dianne took Rosemary's hand and placed it on the lower right side of her stomach. A huge grin spread across Rosemary's face.

"My turn," Olyvia said, walking on her knees over to her sister and hip-checking Rosemary out of the way.

"Hey!" Rosemary said indignantly.

Olyvia placed her hand in the same spot, and sure enough, felt the tiniest of bumps against her hand. Tears welled up in her eyes. It was just one of those wonders you couldn't explain, and she couldn't help but think she'd never be able to experience that herself. She wasn't the only one crying though. Dianne already had tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong Dia?" Rosemary asked, "This means the baby's okay right. Why are you sad?"

"I just wish Loki were here to experience it," Dianne replied.

Pepper reached out and rubbed her back consolingly, while Olyvia took hold of her sister's hands.

"Don't you worry," she said, "We'll be rescued soon enough, and you'll be back with your Norse God."

Dianne chuckled, "Look who was saying they weren't an optimist."

"I mean…we're all gonna die."

"Eventually," Rosemary chipped in, "We are mortal after all."

"Hush Midget!"

* * *

The scientists were so busy searching through the articles, and the Captain and Norse God were watching so intently, that when an alarm on the computer went off, all four jumped. Stark went reeling over backwards in his chair, Bruce's neck started to turn a little green, Steve nearly jumped into the ceiling, and Loki went to attack the computer hardware, summoning his staff and went to whack it but luckily Steve caught it in time.

"What the hell," Stark said, picking himself back up, "Was not expecting that."

"What is it?" Loki asked, realizing something else had appeared on the screen, "Did you find something else?"

"Bruce…are you alright?" Steve asked cautiously.

Bruce shook his head, he was too panicked by the sudden noise and his arms were starting to get bigger, ripping the sleeves of his dark blue shirt.

"Get him out of here! Get him out of here!" Stark ordered, "We can't have him destroying the computer!"

Steve went to grab Bruce and escort him out, but Bruce was already up and running away, disappearing through the doorway. A few seconds later they heard his rumbling roar, and more alarms going off.

"Um…perhaps Mr. Norse God can distract him to prevent him from killing anyone and or destroying the helicarrier…again," Stark said, giving Loki a pointed look.

Loki's eyes widened in terror as he turned to Stark, "_What_! No! No, no, no, no! I am _not_ going to get thrown around like a ragdoll again."

"You can survive it though," Stark said, "And it sounds like he's coming back."  
"Loki, what we've found so far will be gone if Bruce trashes it," Steve said with a pleading look.

Loki let out a resigned sigh, and headed to the door, "You owe me big time."

"I'll make you a cake," Stark said.

"Not going to cut it," Loki rebutted before the door shut behind him.

Stark turned back around and started looking over the new piece of information that blared out to them over the screen, when there was a loud _WHAM_ against the wall. Steve cringed as he saw the wall ten feet to the left of the door dented in, approximately the size of his friend.

"Maybe two cakes," Stark muttered, glancing over at the dent.

"I just hope he'll be able to keep Bruce out," Steve said.

"I'm sure he'll lure him away," Stark said, "With how much he wants Dianne found, he'll do it."

"So why did the computer scream at us?" Steve asked, changing the subject.

Stark turned back around yet again to scan over it.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," Stark muttered, then said more loudly, "It looks like your buddy Bucky, wow, try to say that five times fast. Buddy Bucky, buddy Bicky, bleh bla blarg."

"Stark," Steve growled.

"Sorry, it looks like one of S.H.I.E.L.D's satellites picked up facial recognition on Bucky, if that really is him since you seem so adamant that it isn't."

"I don't see how it's possible!"

"He's in Canada," Stark continued, "Near the Canadian Rockies."

"Wasn't that mentioned in one of the other articles you've been sifting through?" Steve asked, sounding hopeful.

"Bruce found that," Stark said, "And he organized his stuff his way so I don't know where to find it. We have to wait for him to calm down."

With a frustrated groan, Steve sat down in Bruce's chair. Every turn they ran into another roadblock that slowed them down. They couldn't afford the precious time.

Fifteen minutes later, Loki limped his way back into Stark's workroom, beaten, bruised and bloody. He looked like he went through hell and back twice, then was ran over by a semi.

"Is he back to normal?" Steve asked hopefully.

"Ha!" Loki laughed, "No. I lured him into that cage Fury designed for him. He's throwing a fit. By now though I expect we're going to have to pick him up somewhere on the ground."

Steve groaned and dropped his head into a hand, "Great."

"I'll go find him," Stark volunteered.

* * *

Confirming that Bruce had in fact been shot out of the carrier in the steel and glass trap, Stark suited up and went off in search of his friend, an extra change of clothes in hand. He found him eventually, taking a good half hour to find him and bring him back, bringing him up to date with what they found on the way. Bruce looked a little ragged as he entered the lab, but went straight back to work, searching for the document that would hopefully lead them to A.I.M's base and the girls.

"Here it is," Bruce said, handing Stark his tablet that he had to sift through all the data.

Stark sped read over the document before going back to the main computer and typed something in, pulling up a map.

"There is where we want to go," Stark said, pointing at the dot on the screen and Steve leaned in to memorize the location, "Got the coordinates?"

"Yes, let's go," Steve ordered, turning on his heel and strode out of the room.

Loki was quick to follow, eager to find his wife. Stark looked over to his friend in concern, "You up for this?"

Bruce nodded, "Yeah. I can handle it."

* * *

It took James four and a half days to get to Canada on his motorcycle, but finally he arrived. Now he just needed to blow a few things up, get the Avengers attention, and have them fall right into the trap Modok sent him there to set up so the team of superheroes would lead them right back to their base. The four days of travel gave him a lot of time to think, which in turn gave him a lot of splitting headaches. Images began popping up in his head, which were foreign, but at the same time familiar to him. He couldn't explain it, he didn't understand it, and it was infuriating. He also spent a great deal of time thinking about Olyvia, wondering if he'd return to find her and her sisters, and the other lady, still alive. He wouldn't be surprised if he didn't, since Olyvia got cheeky with everyone, but he hoped he'd find her in one piece. If Modok knew of the feelings he had formed for the girl, he would kill both him and Olyvia so he needed to do his best to not let it slip. Thankfully there weren't any cameras in the locker room when he kissed her, and Olyvia seemed abhorred by it to never speak of it again.

James was only a few hours into setting up the explosives that he obtained from one of A.I.M's semi-active bases when he heard a whirring sound in the distance, getting louder as it came closer, and quickly. Grabbing hold of his rifle, ready to use it, he scanned the skies. He could tell it was coming from the southeast, but couldn't pinpoint any exact location. Was it above the clouds? Was it down low, just above the tree line? Why did there have to be so many trees anyway?

Seeing a glint of light up near the clouds, James raised his rifle, and used the scope to get a better look. His stomach sunk, recognizing the S.H.I.E.L.D aircraft.

"Shit," James muttered, dropping his rifle and running for cover. If they spotted him now, he'd have little to no chance to survive. He couldn't withstand a hit from one of those aircraft guns.

Crouching beneath a rocky overhang, he lifted his rifle again and watched as the quinjet landed within throwing distance from him. James inhaled deeply, then let it out slowly to help steady himself. First person that stepped out was going to get a bullet through the head.

The quinjet doors opened, and the oddly dressed one with black hair was the first to exit, notably frantic. That was…Loki wasn't it? Yes, it was. James placed the crosshairs on the Norse God's temple, and was about to squeeze the trigger when Captain America stepped out beside him, blocking his shot. Instead of changing targets, as he would have done and was trained to do, he automatically jerked the rifle to avoid hitting the Captain, a feeling of panic and worry about hitting him jolting through his body in that instant. But he still squeezed the trigger, and hit the Norse God in his right shoulder. James was mentally cursing himself. What the hell! Why did he flinch? He never flinched! He should have splattered the Captain's brains all over the Canadian soil! Oh shit, now they spotted him. Tossing his rifle over his shoulder, he took off through the cave he had set the explosives in.

* * *

Clint and Natasha flew the quinjet at record speed over the Canadian border and directly on top of their coordinates, which just so happened to be a relatively open area in the forest.

"Is this the place?" Loki asked anxiously.

"You think we read the directions wrong?" Clint asked in reply, eyes narrowing at his comrade.

"He's just worried Clint, give him a break," Natasha chastised.

Clint merely rolled his eyes and opened the back doors. Loki hardly let the ramp touch the ground before he went to exit. Steve wasn't far behind him though, equally as eager to find his own wife, hoping they found the right place where they were being held.

"Where do we go from—," Loki wasn't able to finish his question before a piercing pain erupted in his right shoulder, the impact so hard he went spinning around to the ground, a gunshot echoing through the air.

Stark flew out to investigate the gunshot, Bruce transformed into the Hulk, Clint and Natasha practically ripped their seatbelts off in order to get out, and Steve lifted his shield in case another shot would be aimed at him. Looking around, he spotted someone under some cover of rocks, but that someone realized he'd been noticed and went scurrying into a nearby cave. Steve wasn't able to get a good look at him since he moved too fast, but there was still something familiar about the guy.

"How's Loki?" Stark asked as Bruce dove at the cave entrance and tried squeezing himself in.

Steve turned around to see how his friend was, now that he was pulled away from his previous thoughts, "Loki?"

"I _hate_ being shot," Loki seethed, pushing himself up onto his feet.

Using his magic he removed the bullet, then healed himself.

"For you, Mr. Stark," Loki said, handing off the bullet.

"Great, now let's get going before the guy who shot you gets away," Stark said, "Bet you it's the same one from Florida."

They hurried to the cave, which Bruce had broken open to get himself in and was currently chasing down the culprit, far ahead of the rest of them. The rest of the group lost sight of the Hulk for a while, before they caught up to him, moving around in circles, sniffing the ground.

"Don't tell me we lost him," Loki grimaced.

"The cave splits up into…five different paths from here," Stark said doing a quick path of the merging tunnels.

"Then we'll split up," Steve said, "Stark, I want you with Bruce. Even if he did have a com, it's not like he'd be able to relay much information."

"Except, grrr, rargh! I found him!" Stark said, doing his best Hulk impersonation.

Clint and Natasha rolled their eyes while Steve just ignored him, "The rest of us will go on our own. We should be able to handle just one guy."

"Alright, you heard the Captain, let's move," Stark said.

Hulk circled around once again before choosing a path and running down it. Stark followed a ways behind to avoid falling debris. The others chose a path and headed off as well. Steve ran as fast as he could, hoping that if he didn't find the guy they were chasing that perhaps he would find his wife. _If_ she was being held somewhere in here of course.

He was running for quite some time when he was hit in the back of the head. Whirling around he saw the culprit, flipping his rifle around to shoot, and he froze. Normally Steve wouldn't freeze up in battle, and it wasn't because he had a gun pointed at him but rather the fact that it was Bucky standing in front of him.

"Bucky?" he asked incredulously.

The guy flinched, as if pained, causing him to pull the gun as he squeezed the trigger. Luckily Steve had his shield up so it hit that, and ricocheted off and into the wall. Seeing that Bucky no longer recognized him, since he was readjusting his aim for his head again, Steve had no choice but to fight back to defend himself. He bashed Bucky in the chest with the shield, sending him reeling backwards. Bucky still managed to get a shot in once he landed on his back, taking the window of opportunity he had as Steve had his shield out of the way and hit him in the stomach. Steve clutched at his wound, trying to stop the bleeding, still in a bit of shock. Bucky was alive. Bucky was right in front of him. Bucky _shot him_. Bucky would never have shot him before.

"Bucky…don't you know who I am?" Steve asked, hoping he could still get through to his friend.

"My name isn't Bucky!" the man seethed, raising his rifle again, "It's Winter Soldier."

Steve threw his shield, knocking the rifle away and hitting Bucky across the jaw in the process. Steve then pulled back his cowl.

"Don't you recognize me?"

Bucky grabbed his head in pain, slowly getting to his feet. Steve didn't think he hit him that hard in the jaw for him to look that pained. He gave his head a good shake before dropping his hands, and locked eyes with Steve. It was dead silent for a few seconds before Bucky spoke.

"How can I not recognize you with that ridiculous ensemble?" Bucky asked venomously, "Captain America. Or was that a rhetorical question."

Steve's heart fell. He really didn't know him anymore. What happened?

"Bucky—."

"I'm not Bucky!" he shouted.

Bucky then pulled something that looked like a type of remote from his jacket pocket and hit a button on it. Steve was nearly knocked over from the powerful concussions of explosives going off in the tunnel, and the ceiling began to collapse. He dove for his shield, since it hadn't ricocheted back to him, and crouched under it as the tunnels began collapsing. Bucky however took off running as fast as he could, disappearing into the alcove he had been hiding in when Steve ran by.

"Guys, the tunnel is collapsing!" Steve shouted into his com.

"Noticed Spangle Pants," Stark replied, "Is it your job to announce the obvious?"

"I thought it was just mine," Steve growled in reply as he was buried, "Is everyone else alright?"

Stark and Bruce were fine, thanks to Bruce, but Steve got no reply from anyone else, just white noise.

"Here's a better question, did anyone find our culprit?" Stark asked.

Steve said nothing for a few moments before replying, "I did."

"Oh, do you have him?"

"He got away."

"WHAT!" Stark exclaimed, "Okay that's it, Hulk, smash the roof, we have someone on the run again."

"What about the others?"

"We'll come back for you don't worry," Stark said, "Just keep trying to get in contact with them."

Steve tried the com a few more times before changing strategies and decided to dig himself out first, _then_ go looking for the others. Pushing aside rubble and slithering his way through openings, he made it out on one side of the tunnel where it was still in relatively good shape. It still had boulders laying in the pathway, but there was plenty of room to squeeze by. Steve tried once again to contact the others, but there was still no reply. Steve was starting to get worried. There was no way for him to go back, and he assumed the path they took in was completely blocked off so was the alcove, which Steve guessed must have led to an exit, why otherwise would Bucky go that way, so he had little options. He'd have to continue forward and hope to find a way out. After shaking out his cowl, he pulled it back on and headed off.

As Steve journeyed onward, he would check occasionally to see if he could get a hold of anyone yet, but still no luck. A few minutes after he got started, Stark informed him the guy got away and that he and Bruce were searching for the others. Steve let himself relax a little with that bit of news, Bruce would be able to get everyone out just fine. He checked his wound every so often as well, which was healing, but the bullet was still in him, not a through and through shot. That would be torture getting out later.

After walking for ten minutes, Steve reached a door. Pressing his ear against it, he listened to see if there was anything on the other side. Hearing nothing, he turned the wheel on the hatch-like door, flinching as it let out a few squeaks, and opened it just enough to slip through before shutting it. Wherever he was, it looked different from the tunnels, the walls and ground made of metal instead of the earth. Moving as silently as he could, he ventured down the hall to another door. He let out a frustrated sigh seeing it had a pin pad for a code to be punched in.

"Stark," Steve whispered into his com, "I think I've found the base, but I need a code to get in the second door."

"Why don't you just break it?" Stark asked, "Or are you not strong enough?"

"Alarms Stark," Steve said blandly.

"I guess that would make sneaking difficult, alright what do you expect me to do?"

"You're going to have to walk me through whatever it is you do to break into things."

"That's called hacking, and I'm not sure if you'd understand ninety percent of what I say."

"Well, would you rather come down here?"

Stark sighed, "Okay, fine. I'm guessing it's a pin pad?"

"Yes."

"Then firstly you're going to have to remove the cover to access the wires," Stark began.

Steve went ahead and dismantled the device, and followed the rest of Stark's directions, though Stark was right in the fact Steve didn't know ninety percent of what he was talking about. The billionaire had to dumb it down to third grader level for Steve to limp his way through.

"Got it," Steve said as the door let out a hiss and he was able to open it, "Now what do I do?"

"Memorize the code," Stark replied, "It should be on the little screen."

"I got that, but what do I do with the pin pad?"

"Leave it, if there are A.I.M agents down there, you won't have time to put it back together."

Steve hated just leaving the dismantled pin pad there, announcing to anyone who came by that a non-friendly was here, but he had little choice. Slipping through the doorway, he found himself in another hallway, except this one had large glass windows on either side, looking into other rooms. Ducking down, he peeked into both sides. The left had no one in it, while the right had a handful of agents in some sort of lab, working on something. So pressing himself against the right wall, he hurried across the hall to the next door, punched in the code and slipped on through. Now he was in a different area. He was in a large room which looked to be used for mechanics. Machines were sitting on the floor thirty feet below him, and others were in the process of being made. Looking around, he spotted a room that looked like the main office area, which overlooked the workshop. Climbing up into the exposed scaffolding, he made his way over to the office unnoticed by agents milling about down below. Dropping down in front of the door, he breathed a sigh of relief seeing it didn't need a code. Turning the handle he heard it unlatch, and again opened it just enough to slip through. Only one man was in there, dressed just like the rest of the agents, ear buds plugged into his ears and was swaying around to some beat Steve couldn't hear. There was one large monitor in front of him with different cameras set up throughout the base, but he was paying hardly any attention to it.

Steve slowly walked closer, only slightly crouched down now since he wasn't worried about anyone spotting him. The guy continued to bob his head around, glanced over at the monitor, looked out the front windows again, paused, then looked back at the screen. By the time the guy was spinning around in his chair, Steve was already swinging, and caught the guy on the side of the head with a powerful blow. He spun around in his chair a few times before falling onto the floor on his face.

Steve pushed the man aside using his foot and looked over the monitor. There was no sign of the girls anywhere in the base. Slamming his fists down against the table in anger, it took all his willpower to not kick the chair and throw the monitor out the window. Since they weren't here, he needed to get out of this place. Turning around, Steve saw a world map pinned to the wall. He took a closer look, but there weren't any markings on it. He was starting to get really discouraged, when he noticed an odd looking light sitting on a nearby desk. Then he remembered that some things were only visible under certain lighting. Grabbing it, he switched it on and shined it over the map. Faint purple dots began popping up, and when one appeared at the Florida site, he knew it was locations of A.I.M's bases. Even though there were many, this would lead them straight to the girls.

Steve pulled the map away from the wall, and was folding it up as the door opened, and three A.I.M soldiers walked in. They were surprised to see him, which gave Steve enough time to throw his shield and hit them. One recovered quickly though, and launched himself at the main desk and slammed his hand down on the alarm. Instead of more soldiers showing up, everyone began to book it to the nearest exit, and when the one soldier hit a countdown, Steve knew exactly what that meant.

"Not again," Steve sighed.

The three soldiers didn't even want to deal with Steve, the two by the door scurrying out of there as fast as they could, the third shouting at them in a foreign tongue as he hurried to catch up.

"Captain, we've got A.I.M agents everywhere up here!" Stark announced frantically through the intercom.

"You'll be able to handle them right?" Steve asked as he followed the agents, since they would lead the way out, except now some were turning to fight him to keep him from doing so.

"Well yeah, but I'm wondering what you did?"

"I was spotted and they set off the alarm."

"So much for sneakiness."

"Have you got the others out?" Steve asked as he knocked out the soldier he'd been fighting.

"Just Clint and Natasha," Stark replied, "Haven't found Loki yet."

"Deal with the A.I.M. soldiers first," Steve ordered, "Loki is able to take care of himself."

Stark replied in the affirmative before signing off. Steve continued to fight his way forward, his injury starting to bother him especially since the wound healed around the bullet and now was irritating him. He finally made it to the surface to see most of the soldiers had already been dealt with, when the ground rolled beneath them and started to collapse where the base was. Everyone backed up to ensure they were out of range of the sinking ground, and after nearly a minute, everything was still again. The Avengers dealt with the remaining soldiers until none were left standing.

"So…find anything interesting while you were down there?" Stark asked in a jesting manner.

"Actually, I did," Steve replied, "But first things first we need to find Loki."

"Wait, you actually found something? Let me see. You did grab it right?"

"Of course I did but we need to find Loki first," Steve rebutted.

Just then, Natasha let out a terrified scream, and the others whirled around to see what was going on.

"Snake! Snake! Snake!" she began screaming as she drew her gun and began shooting at a big, vibrant green snake, "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!"

The snake somehow managed to dodge the bullets, twitching out of the way, and over behind a dead A.I.M body. Then Loki appeared.

"So that's the welcome I get?" Loki asked shrilly, "After spending the whole time trying to get out from my rocky prison. Some comrade you are."

"I didn't know it was _you_," Natasha defended herself, "And I didn't know you could shapeshift."

"Oh right, we didn't tell you," Stark said.

"_When_?" she asked.

"Uh…the last time the girls were kidnapped," Stark said, "You weren't there so…yeah."

"Couldn't you have changed into something else?" Natasha asked Loki.

"What exactly? I had to get out, not make myself trapped even more."

"How about an inch worm?"

"Okay, just calm down now," Steve said, "We're out from the tunnels, we're okay, and I think I have what we need to find the girls."

Loki whirled around to Steve, "So they weren't here? Did you find where they were? Is Dianne okay?"

"Nothing quite that precise," Steve said as he pulled out the map, "but I found a map—."

Steve didn't get to finish due to Loki throwing himself at Steve, tackling him to the ground to get the map, ripping it from Steve's grasp and not even bothering moving off of him once he had it.

"Loki, you're sitting on my bullet wound," Steve gasped, giving him a shove to get him off, "Ow."

"Sorry," Loki muttered, still staring at the map, "What good is this map? There are no markings."

Steve glared at Loki and held out his hand, asking for the map back. Loki pouted, but handed it back.

"And what was that about a bullet wound?" Clint asked, "To me you look fine."

"That's the problem," Steve said, getting back to his feet, "Bucky shot me, but it didn't go through so my body healed around it."

"So it is Bucky we were chasing?" Stark asked.

Steve nodded, "I don't know how, but it is him."

"Oh…so do you want Bruce to take care of that bullet now?"

"Yes please."

* * *

Bruce tended Steve's injury on their way back to the helicarrier. Unfortunately for Steve, his body burned off anesthetic faster than Bruce could work, so he went without. Luckily though he healed quickly thanks to the serum so he wasn't in pain for long.

"Looks like they went for just normal bullets this time," Bruce said, inspecting both bullets pulled from Loki and Steve.

"Did you figure out what the bullets from our Florida mission were made from?" Steve asked.

Bruce shook his head, "Its physical makeup is unlike anything I've seen from our elements so there is no name for it. At least not one I've heard of. But it's strong, and has an extremely high melting point, that much I can determine."

"So…yay they used normal bullets?" Steve asked.

"The other most likely would have been a through shot," Bruce said, "And obliterate Loki's shoulder."

"So yes, good thing they used normal bullets," Loki said, "Even though I would have rather not been shot anyway."

With Steve on his way to being patched up, now it was time to go over the map. He explained how he found the light nearby and used that to find the markings on the map.

"Black light," Stark said, giving the light a brief glance, "Smarter way of marking bases so people snooping wouldn't see it. Stupid of them to leave it _right there_, but good for us."

"Why isn't it working now?" Loki asked, trying out the light on the map.

"Because you need to be in a darkened area to be able to see it," Stark said, taking the light from Loki.

"Maybe that's why I only saw faint markings," Steve said, "It was fairly dark down there, but they did have some light coming in. Even then, there were quite a bit."

"So we have quite the list to narrow down then don't we?" Bruce asked more to himself than the others.

"Well…Bucky escaped right," Stark began, "Which could be a good thing. He goes crying back to wherever he was sent from, to his _boss_. We use S.H.I.E.L.D's fancy machines to find him as he goes, and we have our spot."

"How do we know that's where Olyvia and the others are being held though?" Steve asked.

"He kidnapped Olyvia," Stark said, "We have the footage of him in Ashland. And if I were the head of a group of villains, I'd keep my prisoners nearby where I can question them."

Terror swept through Steve at the mention of questioning. He knew just how brutal some could get when _questioning_ prisoners. Steve could only think of the worst scenarios possible of what may happen, or had happened, to Olyvia and what effect it might have on their baby. What if her body couldn't handle the abuse with the baby and aborted it?

"Alright then, we'll try your plan first Stark," Steve said.

Stark nodded and turned so he was facing the front of the quinjet, "Can you fly this any faster?"

"We're already going as fast as we can!" Clint and Natasha snapped.

* * *

Back at the helicarrier, the team examined the map, jotting down where the bases were located, minus the Canada and Florida locations since those were destroyed now. They still had a long list to cover, though most were willing to bet they were in the country or neighboring country, not on the other side of the world in Japan or Europe.

With their list of A.I.M base locations, Stark went to work on tracking down Bucky. It took a few hours before they got a hit, showing Bucky had already crossed the Canadian border and was traveling through Idaho. As much as Steve wanted for them to catch him and question him, he agreed that the better chance was keep track of his whereabouts as he fled the Canadian A.I.M base.

"So just how long do we have to wait?" Loki asked.

"It depends on when he stops, and at which base," Stark replied, "He's hardly gotten anywhere so he could be going…anywhere! Patience is a virtue."

Steve's brow furrowed in thought, "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Because your quoteaholic wife probably says it a lot to you," Stark said.

"Right, that's why, it's from a movie," Steve muttered, "But not because of me."

"Right," Stark said, elongating the word for the effect he wanted, "From what I know of your wife, there is something that triggers her quoting sprees."

"Just…shut up and keep working," Steve ordered, heading to the door, "Let me know when Bucky stops at a base."

* * *

James cut his trip a half a day shorter due to speeding and shorter rests. He knew Modok would be pissed at him for failing, _again_. He wasn't looking forward to this meeting. Being caught in the collapse of the cave, not to mention the brief battle with Captain America, he was rather bruised and beaten. His entire jaw was turning a disgusting green and yellow from the black and blue it was the previous days, then his right arm was broken, thanks to the collapse. It was very difficult driving the motorcycle with a lame arm.

Arriving at the base, the A.I.M guards let him in, informing him as to where Modok was, the surveillance room. As much as he wanted to go to the infirmary first, James knew Modok would become very upset if he didn't go straight to him. So straight to the surveillance room, and possibly his demise, he went.

Upon entering the surveillance room, Modok sent out the other agents that were in there once he saw Bucky. He had a sour countenance, and Bucky's stomach was starting to sink.

"Judging upon your state, I assume you were unsuccessful. Again."

"They caught me by surprise," James explained, "I had hardly set up the explosives when they arrived. I don't know how they knew where to find me, but they did. I only know the large green one and Iron Man managed to get out, they gave chase but I managed to give them the slip. The others I…I don't know."

Now Modok looked furious, "You have just been a waste of our resources! I was told you were better at this."

"All due respect, those were just normal humans I was sent to kill," James said quietly.

"It doesn't matter! You have power and you are incapable of using it!" Modok said, "I ought to kill you for failing me twice."

James said nothing, and just stood there. If he were to die, then so be it. There was no reason for him to live. Modok was silent for a few moments before saying, "I won't though, because you may still prove to be useful. Whether to be shark chum or as one of my soldiers will yet to be seen. I grow tired of waiting to see the Avengers dead."

Modok then jolted forward in his chair, shoving past James, growling under his breath, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

Panic clutched at James's chest, worried about what his boss was planning now. Moving quickly, he followed after him, his stomach dropping completely to his feet when he realized he was going to where the girls were locked up. The guards at the door opened it up for him and Modok made a beeline to Olyvia, who looked shocked and scared to see him again from where she sat on the floor. With a meaty hand, Modok grabbed her around the neck.

"It is time to use our bait the way the proper way," Modok growled.

Just then, the building rocked under their feet as a deafening explosion filled the air. Alarms began going off inside, and the guards were frantically speaking into their coms.

"NOW WHAT!" Modok screeched.

One guard stepped forward, "Sir…it's the Avengers."


	8. Chapter 8

**So this is the last chapter (geez my stories have been getting shorter). Wow…we're finally at the end.**

**Larryeneno: Yes, finally the rescue. (And now I have "Holding Out for A Hero" playing in my head…)**

**Guest: Thanks! :)**

**Dr. Huff-Puff: Further chapters? …maybe…if I am struck with a moment of genius.**

**Isala Uthenera: No Dianne isn't having twins, she just refers to them instead of it because I just don't like referring to humans as it.**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Once it became clear to the Avengers that Bucky was heading towards the Southern California base, they wasted no time preparing for their trip, suiting up and boarding a quinjet. Bucky himself was still a few hours from the base, but since was still continuing south along the coastline, they were ninety-nine percent certain he would be going to the one base nearest to him. If they were wrong, Stark would know and he'd inform them and they'd just continue following. However, Stark relayed to the others while they were only a few minutes out that Bucky had already arrived.

"Ready to face him again?" Stark asked the Captain, "You won't freeze up?"

"I didn't freeze up last time," Steve quipped back.

"Then why isn't he dead already?"

"I couldn't kill him Stark," Steve replied quietly, "He's…he's my friend."

"Not anymore. He's the enemy. You're going to have to do what's necessary Cap."

Steve's heart grew heavy. He wasn't sure he could. Perhaps there was some way to bring Bucky back to how he was. Steve would try everything he could to do so, but if it couldn't be done…then he would have to kill him.

Clint and Natasha flew the quinjet over the cement walls surrounding the base, firing the guns on the A.I.M soldiers down below as they opened the back doors to let the rest out. Loki was out first, looking ready to slaughter these people. Stark flew out after, flying around the base to scope it out, and Steve had barely dropped the ten feet to the ground when Loki blasted an entire wall away, with the aid of his Asgardian magic. A.I.M soldiers surged toward him, and he took each one down with a precise hit with his scepter.

"Looks like Loki could take on the entirety of A.I.M. himself," Stark said to the others through the com.

"He's pissed off enough," Clint agreed.

"As am I," Steve added, charging into the fray of soldiers trying to prevent Loki from getting inside the building he half demolished.

Even without Steve's help, Loki would have blown the A.I.M soldiers to smithereens. As they rushed in, they were thrown back by an unseen force. Picking themselves back up, they found themselves face to face with a hideous creature that was mainly a head in a floating chair.

"Prepare for your demise Avengers!" the creature shouted at them in its robotic voice, "I Modok shall rid this world of all heroes!"

"Did he just call himself Modok?" Steve heard Clint asking in the com, "That's supposed to be A.I.M's leader."

With that bit of news, Steve threw his shield at Modok once found his footing, but it went careening off to the left as he felt himself being pushed back again. Modok was using some sort of psychic powers against them. Loki created his holograms as he tried to sneak past Modok; he just wanted to get _inside_. Again Modok blasted them away, this time with a wave of red heat, scorching both Loki and Steve, making Loki's doubles disappear. They had no choice but to retreat a safe distance to avoid the attacks.

"Loki and I could use a little help over here with Modok," Steve said into the com.

"Looping around," Stark replied, coming around the backside of the building to flank Modok.

Either Modok had eyes on the back of his head, or he sensed Stark somehow, because he erected a barrier as Stark sent a few of his energy blasts at him, which fizzled out against the barrier.

"Okay, this guy is pissing me off now with his psionic powers," Stark said, irritated that this guy was avoiding all their attacks, "Where's Hulk?"

"He's helping us deal with a swarm of agents," Natasha replied.

"Stark, I need you to distract Modok just long enough for Loki and I to get inside," Steve said, lunging out of the way from another heat blast, which also happened to be in the direction of his shield so he quickly picked that up as well, "You guys can handle things out here, we'll look for the girls."

"Distract him?" Stark asked, looping around again and trying another tactic to get at Modok, but he blasted it away, "With what? How?"

"Think of something! He's hardly moving away from the building."

Steve and Loki were thrown back again by the unseen psionic force, hitting the cement wall behind them. Steve shook his head as he began to see stars. It'd been a long time since Steve felt completely helpless. There was nothing he could do against this guy.

Loki was trembling in fury as he stood back up. This thing was keeping him from Dianne, _took_ Dianne and his unborn child away from him, and he was going to shred him to pieces for that. Whirling around to face Modok, he charged at him.

"Loki what are you doing?" Steve asked.

Loki knew Modok would attack, but he also knew he had to deal with Stark's third loop around so he would have to decide which one was the greater threat. As Modok erected the shield that disrupted Stark's energy blasts, Loki smirked. He miscalculated, using one of his psionic blasts would have been the smarter thing to do. Lunging forward Loki speared the blade of his scepter into Modok's left eye, twisting the blade sharply once it stopped sinking into his head. Modok roared in agony and Loki purposefully ripped the blade out at an odd angle as he tumbled over the back of him. Stark then used Modok's distraction to blast him away from the gaping hole in the building wall. Steve ran to the opening, and jumped down the stairwell after Loki just as Modok tried blasting him again.

"That's what I was doing," Loki said to the Captain as he caught up to him.

"Nice job."

"Now let's finish tearing this place apart."

Steve was in complete agreement, and the two made their way down the hall, opening every door they came upon to see what was behind. After rounding a second corner and checking two doors, they made their way to a third. As Steve started to open the door, a hand jutted out from the opening and Steve felt his muscles spasm as his body was wracked with pain, bringing him down onto his knees. The door was then thrown open, and he looked up to see Bucky there.

"You again," Loki growled, narrowing his eyes into a death glare. He was still bitter about the whole getting shot thing.

With Steve down for the count, Bucky faced Loki, and held his left arm out and used the taser effect on him as well. Loki convulsed for a few seconds, his knees buckling, but he didn't drop, instead recovering from the hit. Bucky's eyes went wide. _What the hell_? Why didn't it work? What was this guy? Eyes burning in anger, Loki grabbed Bucky's right arm, squeezing the already broken limb, making him cry out in pain. He then kicked Bucky's feet out from under him so he was prone and temporarily not an issue. Turning back to Steve, he helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked.

Steve nodded, shaking off the last bit of tense muscles, and looked down at Bucky, who was groaning in pain, but looked like he was going to get back up and start fighting again soon, "You keep going, find Olyvia and Dianne. I'll deal with Bucky."

Loki nodded, and continued down the hall, opening doors as he went. Steve turned back to Bucky, who was now halfway to his feet.

"How many times do I have to tell you," he growled, "I'm. Not. Bucky!"

Jumping to his feet he went to punch Steve, who leaned backwards out of the way, before returning with a swing of his own, which Bucky managed to dodge. Bucky was just as fast, if not faster, than himself.

"But you are!" Steve shouted, raising his shield to block another attack, "I don't know how, but you're the guy I grew up with. We were best friends. Don't you remember?"

Bucky cringed, grabbing onto his head as pain pierced his skull. More images flashed through his head, but he tried his best to suppress them, and sent out an EMP blast from his prosthetic arm this time. It didn't do much to Steve, except deafen him for a few seconds, but it caused the lights to flicker before going out.

"I don't remember anything before waking up in a Russian lab!" Bucky shouted back.

"You were a soldier," Steve tried again, "In the 107th. Then I recruited you into my team."

Grabbing the pistol on his hip, Bucky shot at Steve, who ducked inside the room Bucky had exited a few minutes prior. Bucky missed horribly though, due to squeezing his eyes shut as more images…memories, flooded his brain, war grounds, tanks, explosions, a lab, Steve…coming to rescue him. It still wasn't making any sense. He had never heard the name Bucky before now. He was James Buchanan Barnes, that's what it said on his dog tags…from World War II.

"I thought you had died Bucky," Steve said from the dark room, "On our last mission. We were on a train, to get Dr. Zola."

Bucky crumbled down onto his knees as the memories continued to flood his mind, causing unspeakable pain, as if something was trying to force its way back into his head. Steve then stepped out from the room and grabbed Bucky by the collar of his shirt.

"Remember who you are soldier!" he shouted at him, his voice stern and authoritative.

The floodgates of his mind then broke, and Bucky was overwhelmed by the onslaught of memories. Childhood in Brooklyn, protecting little Steve from the bullies, signing up for the army, saying goodbye to Steve, going to war. At the forefront of all the memories, was Steve desperately reaching for his hand as he dangled from the blown out train wall, and inevitably fell to what was expected to be his death. Tears were streaming down Bucky's face as he looked up at Steve's piercing blue eyes.

"Steve I…" he paused, wondering how he should phrase his wording so Steve would know he wasn't trying to trick him. Then it came to him, "I thought you were smaller."

"Oh thank God," Steve breathed as he hugged his long lost friend.

"Can't breathe Steve," Bucky wheezed.

"Sorry," Steve said, letting go and taking a step back, but keeping his hands on his shoulders, "What happened to you Bucky? How…how are you still alive? It's been seventy years."

"Well, how are you still alive?" Bucky retorted.

"Frozen in ice."

"Ah, well sort of the same thing for me," Bucky replied, "I was put in stasis by a Russian scientist."

Now Steve was confused, "Then how'd you come to work for A.I.M?"

"They woke me up over a year ago, hired me," Bucky replied, getting back up onto his feet, "Oh God what have I done?"

"Shot my sister-in-law and kidnapped my wife, just to name a few," Steve couldn't help but say bitterly.

"I'm sorry," Bucky muttered, "So married huh?"

"Yes, and speaking of which, do you know where she and the others who were kidnapped are?"

Bucky nodded, "Yes. Follow me."

Bucky took the lead, and Steve followed closely behind as he led him further down the hall.

"I hope we reach it before your other friend," Bucky commented.

"Why is that?"

"Because the door leading into their room has an electrical charge running through it," Bucky said, "It'd fry someone's arm off."

"Oh, then we better hurry."

* * *

The big metal door was practically screaming, "I'm holding hostages!" Of course, they'd need an impressive door to keep Olyvia from breaking it down, though Loki had to wonder what it was made out of that she wasn't able to, or why she didn't try. Easily dealing with the guards standing there, Loki looked to see if it was locked, but it had an electronic keypad, which he had no clue how to run. Perhaps he could break the lock on the handle, his Asgardian strength surely could do that. Gripping onto the handle, he felt the shock of electricity shooting through his body, making him go into convulsions. He was able to pry his hand off at least, and he looked at his hand as it started tingling from numbness.

"Wow…haven't felt that in a while," he said to himself.

It had, in fact, been quite a few hundred years since Thor would zap him with lightning for the fun of it, since he finally matured enough it wasn't so funny. Loki was sure his hair was standing up a little. Knowing he could withstand the current, it was just a fact on whether he wanted his hair looking like Olyvia's on a bad day, he grabbed onto the handle again, and turned it past the locking mechanism, breaking it. Then with a kick, since he had no desire to continue holding the door, he pushed it open, slamming it against the wall. The occupants inside all jumped at having the door slam open, but when they saw it was Loki, they burst into tears of joy at having been found.

"Loki!" Dianne exclaimed as she tried pushing herself to her feet.

Her husband was faster though, and practically threw himself at her as he enveloped her in a tight embrace, though not too tight that he was choking her.

"Thank the Gods you're alright," Loki murmured into her hair, "You are alright, right? And the baby?"

"We're fine," Dianne replied, pulling back to look her husband in the eye, "We're all fine, though I would love to get a checkup on the baby, just to be sure. I haven't taken my vitamins this last month after all."

"I swear, if anything happens to the baby, I will personally slaughter every last member of A.I.M," Loki growled.

"Where is everyone else?" Rosemary asked.

"They're outside," Loki replied, "Steve should be on his way here though. We'll probably go back to help the others, but it would be best if you remain here and out of the way, that way nothing can happen to you."

They all nodded in agreement, before Dianne's eyes grew wide in excitement, and she grabbed Loki's wrist, pulling his hand to her belly.

"Do you feel it?" she asked.

Loki stared in shock at his hand as he felt a slight kick against it. The baby was moving. That meant it was mostly okay. Unable to help himself he hugged his wife, kissing her, before planting a kiss on her belly. Dianne smiled as she heard Loki whisper against her belly.

"Oh I love you."

* * *

When Steve and Bucky reached the room the door was already broken down, and Bucky just stared in shock and horror at it, seeing Loki in the room, and alright. Being a Norse God obviously had its benefits.

Steve didn't pause at the door, instead sped up his pace into a run as he pulled his cowl off and went straight for his wife, who jumped to her feet seeing him.

"Steve!" she cried as she threw her arms around his neck.

Rosemary made a face as the two instantly locked lips, practically gluing themselves together they were holding onto each other so tight. She couldn't blame them though, they hadn't seen each other in over a month.

"I missed you so much," Olyvia said once they finally broke apart, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I missed you too Livy," Steve replied.

She hugged him again, this time resting her head on his shoulder, and that's when she noticed James standing in the doorway. Steve barely caught her in time as she tried lunging at him with a deranged shout.

"Livy! Stop, it's okay," Steve said, "He's with us."

"With _you_?" Olyvia screeched, and Steve was starting to get a little scared of his wife, wondering just what Bucky did to piss her off like this, "Last time I knew he was working for Mr. Roboto!"

"He was brainwashed," Steve said, one of the things he learned from Bucky on their way here, "He's my friend Livy. You remember me telling you about Bucky right? Well…that's him."

"And you _trust_ him already?"

"I do."

"Well I don't!" Olyvia shouted, "He kidnapped me! He belittled me! And then he _kissed_ me! After all that!"

"He _what_?" Steve exclaimed, whirling around on his friend, who was looking very guilty.

"WHAT?" her sisters shouted in unison, also turning to look at Bucky.

"I-I-I…I have nothing to say to defend my actions," Bucky said.

Steve looked ready to kill, but since it was Bucky, he settled with just punching him. In the jaw.

"Feel better?" Bucky asked after popping his jaw back into place.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Bucky apologized.

Steve was silent for the few moments following his apology before finally saying, "I forgive you. Touch my wife again though, I won't hold back."

"Understood. Let's head up top shall we? Help finish off whatever's left up there?"

"With a broken arm?" Loki asked.

Bucky shrugged with his left shoulder, "I've been able to manage so far."

Loki looked to Steve, "You trust him enough for me to heal him?"

He nodded, and Loki took Bucky's arm, making him flinch. He cringed even more as his bones snapped back into place, and once Loki finished, the Norse God was feeling rather weak.

"Perhaps you should stay," Steve suggested.

"I'm fine with that," Loki said, looking over to his wife. He didn't want to leave her side.

"We'll be back once everyone else is taken care of," Steve said, then went back to Olyvia's side and scooped her into his arms and gave her another kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, then added, "But I hate your friend."

Steve sighed. From what he could foresee, those two would never get along. He hoped she wouldn't make him choose between her and his long lost friend. He'd choose her of course, but it'd kill him to say goodbye to Bucky again.

* * *

Once Steve and Bucky made it outside, there was little for them to do. Hulk was busy making Modok jam, which Bucky sent an EMP blast over among Modok's debris remains to make sure he stayed dead. There was no telling what the guy had done to ensure his life. There were only a few A.I.M agents left, which were quickly picked off, but it was the explaining to the rest of the group about Bucky that took the longest. None of them were willing to trust him so readily as Steve, which he understood and expected.

With no more enemies to deal with, Steve went back to get Loki and the girls, bringing them up top to reunite with the others. Stark pushed Clint and Natasha aside as he hurried over to Pepper, hopping briefly out of his Iron Man suit to give her a hug. Once he finished giving her a hug, Rosemary then tackled him to the ground in her excitement to see him. The reunions were brief, Bruce ushering everyone back onto the quinjet so he could check over everyone to see how they were doing after a month in confinement. Aboard the quinjet, Bruce insisted on seeing Olyvia first in the small room in the back where he had his equipment.

"Dianne should go first," Olyvia argued.

"Livy, just do as Bruce says," Steve said.

"Why? I'm fine! Except I have to use the restroom, but I think I can hold it for a little," Olyvia argued.

"Livy…you're—," Steve began.

"Not indestructible, yes I know," Olyvia interrupted, "I've gone through enough crap to know that definitely isn't the case."

"Olyvia, if you'd just let me finish—," Steve tried again.

"But I'm fine this time," Olyvia said, "Just emotionally scarred perhaps, but fine!"

Since she wasn't letting him get a word in, Steve picked her up and carried her in, setting her down on the table in there, "Olyvia, Bruce wants to see you first!"

"I want him to see Dianne first!"

"LIVY!" Steve exclaimed exasperatedly, "It's about your blood tests. Bruce—."

"Oh my god," Olyvia breathed, "The mutation…it's coming back isn't it?"

Steve groaned and slapped a hand over his face. If she would just let him speak!

"Olyvia, just listen to me for—."

"I thought I was cured of it!" Olyvia burst into tears, "Of course I couldn't escape it. Everything bad happens to me. That's just my luck."

Bruce finished setting up the equipment he needed, and asked Olyvia to lay on her back. She flopped down, slapping a hand over her eyes as she started crying even harder.

"Olyvia—," Steve tried again.

"I don't want to hear it Steve," Olyvia said, then realized Bruce was pulling up her shirt, "What are you doing? Is there any need for that? Bruce! Steve! What is he—?"

Olyvia was for once cut off by the sound of a heartbeat as Bruce pressed a heart monitor onto her abdomen. Olyvia whipped her head over to the monitor to see a quick little heartbeat making its way across the screen.

"You're pregnant," Steve said, "_That's_ what I've been trying to say."

Olyvia looked back to Steve, jaw agape, tears glistening in her eyes, "H-h-h-how?"

"I think you _know_ how," Bruce commented.

"You know what I mean!" Olyvia said indignantly, "I thought you said it was impossible."

"Obviously not," Bruce said, "Would you like to _see_ how your miracle baby is coming along?"

Olyvia nodded enthusiastically, bursting into tears of joy, burbles of laughter escaping her lips. Steve wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead as she continued to cry it out before she finally composed herself and Bruce was able to do an ultrasound.

"Now I'm not trained for this sort of thing, so you're going to have to see a gynecologist when you get back home, but just so you can see," Bruce said, bringing up the image of the fetus, still in the early stages of growth.

Olyvia started crying and laughing again, "There's our baby."

Steve's grin couldn't have gotten any wider when she said that. _Our_ baby just sounded so wonderful.

"The fact that we have a heartbeat is the good thing," Bruce added a few moments later, "That was our main concern. The stress you were under while being kidnapped could have proven fatal."

"Well…I'm glad you got us out of there when you did," Olyvia said, "Modok was up to something again, and he was going to use me to do it."

"Then a very good thing we arrived when we did," Steve agreed, "And we'll be back home in time for your birthday."

"Right, my birthday," Olyvia muttered, "Can we just…do a small little thing with just the two of us and my gift is sleeping in? I have a lot of sleep to catch up on."

Steve chuckled and kissed his wife's forehead, "Whatever you want dearest."

With their turn now over, Olyvia headed back into the main part of the quinjet, and Dianne went in next. Again, Bruce was going to give her an ultrasound, since he would be able to at least tell if the baby was malnourished, knowing how far along it was. Loki hoped he could determine the baby's sex, since Dianne had missed the appointment where they'd find out, but he was disappointed to hear Bruce couldn't, since he was not schooled in that area.

"The baby looks fine," Bruce said after staring at the ultrasound for a few minutes, "about the size a five month should be. Are you craving anything?"

"Besides orange juice?" Dianne asked, "Um…okay, I know this sounds weird, but…rocks?"

"Sounds like you're deficient in iron then," Bruce said, "Your gynecologist will get everything sorted out for you."

Dianne nodded and looked up to her husband, who was just staring at the ultrasound monitor in awe, "Seeing if you can determine the sex yourself?"

"No just…watching," Loki replied.

"Still hoping for a boy?"

"Yes," Loki replied, "You?"

Dianne nodded, "Yep."

* * *

The girls were all taken to the infirmary at the helicarrier once they landed, and stayed there overnight. All four were sorely needing some nutrition, since they didn't exactly have a balanced diet while imprisoned. The rest of the team wrote out their paperwork of what happened at the base, and Bucky was, unfortunately, placed in a holding cell. Again, no one except Steve was willing to trust him enough just yet. Fury saw the potential of having him, trained as he were, but he would have to see first just how trustworthy Bucky was.

After a night in the helicarrier, the girls were discharged, and the first thing they did before heading home was take a shower. They probably used up all the hot water available on the carrier due to taking so long, but having been without one for a month, save Olyvia who only was allowed to wash up after being dunked in salt water, they all were rather filthy and it took a bit to get it all washed away.

Once all spruced up and ready to go, the girls boarded a quinjet, where Stark, Loki and Steve were already waiting for them. Clint and Natasha were in the cockpit, being the ones to take them home, and headed to New York first to drop off Stark and Pepper. Then it was across the country to Oregon where Steve and Olyvia said their goodbyes. A skip and a jump later, Rosemary had been dropped off, Nelly had been picked back up, and Dianne and Loki had finally made it home. Which was still a mess from the intrusion over a month ago.

"You didn't clean up?" Dianne asked as she looked around her damaged home.

"I fixed the door at least," Loki said, "So animals didn't claim the house while we were gone."

Dianne went ahead and let Nelly out of her cage, who then took off like a shot across the living room and down the hall back toward the bedroom, "Nelly will be happy about that. No fighting intruders. Thank you for taking her to my parents to be looked after."

"Of course," Loki said, "You love that cat and you'd have my hide if I just left her here."

"You know me so well," Dianne said with a grin.

"Yes I do," Loki agreed, coming to stand beside his wife and placed a tender kiss on her lips, "And I know you're probably exhausted so you go ahead and rest, I'll do as much cleaning up as I can in the few hours I have before sunset."

Dianne nodded, and headed to their bedroom. It was still orderly, though there was a layer of dust on everything. After shaking out the blankets and the pillows, she made herself comfortable on the bed, which still smelled dusty and caused her to sneeze a few times. She lightly napped until the sun had set so she was still awake when Loki came to bed and laid down beside her.

"Oh I missed this so much," Loki said as he wrapped an arm over his wife, letting his hand rest on her swollen belly.

"I missed it too," Dianne replied, sounding like she was close to crying, "I missed you so much while we were kidnapped. There were times…I thought I'd never see you again."

"Don't cry," Loki said, kissing the back of her jaw, "I'm here now, and I'll never let anything like that happen again, I promise."

"Won't old age do that?" Dianne asked, "I mean…you have your Asgardian powers back, you'll stay young for a very long time, won't you?"

"Actually," Loki began, "When Od…_father_ granted my powers back, it was just that. I will still age as a mortal with you, because that is what I desire."

"Really?" Dianne asked, turning her head as much as she could in an effort to look at him, "I thought—."

"Sorry that I didn't explain earlier," Loki said, "It sort of slipped my mind."

"What about the baby?" Dianne asked, "Will they be…Asgardian or…"

"Honestly…I don't know," Loki said, "But I'm pretty sure they'll at least end up with some sort of ability, since we both have some of our own."

"Or abilities."

Loki nodded in agreement, "Very likely."

They fell into silence, and as the time ticked by, eventually fell asleep, Loki's hand still splayed across Dianne's belly, a small smile on his lips from when the baby had kicked against his hand yet again.

* * *

For the following week, Steve wouldn't let Olyvia out of his sight. Not even to go to the bathroom or take a shower. He was still terribly upset over her kidnapping, and even though she reminded him A.I.M had been taken care of, he was still paranoid that perhaps someone was still out there who would try to snatch her. Being Captain America, he was sure to have enemies, though few knew of his real identity, but still he worried.

The couple called a doctor for Olyvia to visit, who made the earliest available appointment to see her since she _just_ discovered her pregnancy, though it was still over a week away and a few days after her birthday. Olyvia figured that finding out whether the baby was okay would be enough of a birthday present, though Steve did get her a few things. Once the appointment date finally came, both Olyvia and Steve were nervous and giddy about it. They were excited to see the baby's progress again, but nervous the doctor might find something wrong.

"Steve…just breathe," Olyvia said to her husband as they said in the waiting room, "Really _I_ should be the one being told to breathe but honey…you're going to hyperventilate. It's okay."

"I'm stressed," Steve said, "What if the baby isn't doing well? What if something's wrong? What if they have some sort of physical defect caused by _my_ DNA. We both know mine's been altered, what if that screws everything else up. What if my DNA isn't compatible with yours?"

"Okay, someone has been thinking way too much about this," Olyvia said, "And our DNA is perfectly compatible. We're going to have a gorgeous baby, I mean look at us, We're perfect for each other, and for making utterly gorgeous babies."

Steve chuckled, "You're silly, but it's not helping ease my mind."

Olyvia took her husband's hand and gave it a firm squeeze, "Whatever happens, we'll be able to handle it. We've gone through worse and we've overcome it."

Taking in a deep breath, Steve nodded in agreement. Even if any of his what-if's happened, they could deal with it. He managed to calm down until a nurse called for Olyvia, and Steve's nerves spiked again. Olyvia gently coaxed Steve to his feet and the two walked into the back and took a seat in the observation room they were led to. They waited about ten minutes before the gynecologist arrived, and after some questions it was time for a sonogram. The doctor took plenty of time to look everything over, and then he gave the couple the diagnosis they were hoping for, everything looked well and fine with the fetus. Steve and Olyvia sighed in relief, Steve probably more so than Olyvia, nearly collapsing back into his seat from where he stood next to the bed. And just as they expected, the doctor calculated Olyvia was ten weeks along, and to start expecting a baby bump to start being more noticeable now. And then of course the information they really came here to get; when they should expect the little one to be born, which would be in last week of March.

Steve and Olyvia were all smiles as they headed back to the car, happy to have received good news, and that they were on their way to becoming parents. Steve was eager for the day he would officially be a father.

"I can't wait to tell mom," Olyvia said giddily as Steve drove them back home, "She'll be so excited. Two more grandkids within three months of each other."

"When is Dianne due anyway?"

"January."

Steve laughed, "Another January birthday?"

"At least we're in Mar—oh…we'll be adding to another of the four already in the last week of March."

"Christmas, January, and March we'll end up nearly breaking the bank," Steve said.

"Probably," Olyvia replied, "Speaking of Dianne, we should be getting a call from her sometime this week letting us know the baby's sex."

"That'll be exciting."

"Personally, I'm hoping it'll be a girl," Olyvia said, "Mom and Dad have plenty of grandsons from Kristie."

"I'd like to have a son," Steve said quietly.

"I'll be happy with either," Olyvia said with a smile, "I'm stoked that I managed to get pregnant so I'm not going to complain about gender."

"I won't either," Steve rephrased, "But…I can't help but hope for a boy."

"I understand," Olyvia said.

Reclining in her seat, Olyvia closed her eyes and let herself nap while Steve drove back to the house. It wasn't a few minutes later though that she spoke up again.

"You know…I'm going to have to buy new clothes soon."

* * *

The day of the remade appointment had finally come and Dianne had never seen Loki more excited than he was as they got in the car and made their way to the doctor's office. Since the doctor was so busy with other patients, it took two weeks before they could go see her. But finally all their waiting was over, they would finally find out the baby's gender.

Of course, the waiting took forever, in the waiting room and then in the observation room in the back. Apparently the doctor was very busy, but it eventually became their turn.

"Ready to see your baby?" the doctor asked as she began punching buttons on the sonogram machine.

"Yes," Loki replied first, making Dianne giggle. He was just so impatient today it was funny.

With the machine already prepped, she got to work bringing up the baby's image on the screen. Dianne and Loki stared at the primitive picture on the screen in adoration, seeing the baby moving around. The doctor studied the image for a few moments before turning to the couple with a smile on her face, "So which one are you hoping for, boy or girl?"

* * *

Olyvia was pouring through paperwork from the university trying to get her money back since she was already dropped from the classes due to missing the first day of class when her phone rang. She was grateful for the distraction, since the paperwork was frustrating her and apparently the university didn't take '_I was kidnapped_' as a viable reason to return _any_ of her money back. From the Bolero of Fire ringtone, she knew it was Dianne, so she quickly picked it up.

"What's the news?" Olyvia asked right away.

"A boy! We're having a boy!"

Olyvia let out an ecstatic squeal, making Steve and Oscar jump from their seat on the couch where they were lounging.

"Everything alright?" Steve asked, looking panicked.

When Olyvia tried relaying the news all she was able to do was let out shrill squeals that only sort of sounded like words. Steve just stared at his wife before walking over to the table and holding his hand out for the phone. Olyvia handed it over, and started taking in deep breaths.

"So what's gotten Olyvia into hysterics?"

"Loki and I are having a boy!" Dianne replied excitedly.

"Congratulations," Steve said, genuinely happy for his sister-in-law, "You and Loki were both hoping for a boy weren't you?"

"Yep," Dianne replied, "So when do you and Livy find out?"

"Five more weeks," Steve replied, to which Olyvia made a face, knowing what he was referring to. She was an impatient person, so the next five weeks seemed like _forever_ to finally find out the gender of their own baby.

"_Forever_," Olyvia complained.

"It'll be here before you know it," Steve said to his wife.

Olyvia scoffed, "Yeah right."

"Oh believe me," Dianne was saying on the phone, having overheard her sister, "It'll just fly by."

* * *

The next five weeks hadn't flown by, but it went by faster than Olyvia anticipated, seeing as how the day actually arrived. Part of the reason might have been the fact Steve had to go on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D, to clear out the rest of A.I.M's bases, which Bucky was helping with. Olyvia still distrusted him, doubted she would ever trust him, and she didn't like the fact he would be with Steve, where he could possibly betray him. If he ever did, he'd rue the day he ever pissed her off because she would make sure he suffered. Steve made sure to call every day he was gone, and tried even harder to convince Olyvia Bucky had changed, but he could tell it was a very steep uphill battle that would be hard to win. Defeating the Chitauri, Thanos, Skrull and Modok all at once sounded easier than getting Olyvia to change her mind about Bucky.

Though Steve still had a few bases left to deal with, Fury allotted him time to be home for this appointment, which Steve would have gone AWOL anyway to be there since he wasn't going to miss it. When he first arrived back home, he stared in shock at Olyvia's baby bump, not expecting for there to be so much growth in the little amount of time he was gone. Of course, he only got to stare for a few seconds before Olyvia threw her arms around him, but then he had her stand back so he could properly give a kiss to the little one.

Now at the appointment, and the doctor looking over the sonogram, the couple waited impatiently for the doctor to tell them the baby's gender. Olyvia had waited long enough, she wanted to know _now_!

"The baby is really moving today," the doctor said, and Olyvia whimpered. Though she loved feeling the baby move and kick, she really, really, _really_ wanted them to take a breather for just two seconds for the doctor to get a decent enough picture to determine gender.

"Ah, there we go," he said a few moments later, then made a circle on the screen using the computer so the couple could pinpoint it out as well, "You're having a boy."

"Another boy," Olyvia said with a laugh, "Oh I guess this is Dad's repayment for having all girls. He has nearly all grandsons."

"Now we need to seriously start considering names," Steve said.

"We'll start on that once we get home."

* * *

The high from learning the baby's gender dissipated after a few days when Olyvia realized Steve would be heading back for the helicarrier the following morning. She moped about the evening, pouting and sighing, wishing Steve could stay because she hated being alone. Steve hated leaving her alone, since he was still paranoid about her getting kidnapped again. That evening as they laid in bed, Olyvia cozied up as close as she could get to Steve with her back against his chest, holding his arms snugly around her as they tried to sleep.

"I don't want you to go," she whimpered, clinging to Steve tighter.

"I don't want to either," Steve replied, kissing the back of her neck, "But there are only two bases left. It should only take another week or two."

"_Forever_," Olyvia said, elongating every syllable.

"I'll be back before you know it," Steve said, "I hate being away, but I need to get this done. And then I shouldn't be needed for a while."

"Unless there is another catastrophe."

"The others could handle it without me, I'm sure," Steve said, "I just throw around a shield."

"You're the leader, of course they'd need you."

"Enough talk about me," Steve said, giving his wife a squeeze, "Let's just savor the moment and get some sleep."

As his left hand was laid on his wife's belly, he felt a kick against it, "Even you bud. Sleep."

Olyvia sniggered, "You're cute love. And I doubt sleep will happen anytime soon for him."

She could feel Steve's smile against the back of her neck before he gave her another kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too," Olyvia replied.

Steve sighed contently as he held all that mattered to him in his arms, "Life is perfect."

* * *

Steve was gone longer than two weeks, for which he apologized profusely over the phone to Olyvia. Being emotional, she cried, which made Steve feel bad and he desperately tried to stop the waterworks, but it was only after crying for five minutes that she finally finished.

"I need some ice cream," Olyvia sighed into the phone.

"Just because you're pregnant doesn't make it okay to eat all the sweets you want," Steve commented.

"You're not here, and won't be for another _week_ or _more_," Olyvia complained, "So I am moping and ice cream helps me mope."

"Just don't get a gallon of it," Steve said.

"How about a box of ice cream sandwiches?"

"You realize it's November now, right?"

"And?" Olyvia asked, "Ice cream is good anytime of the year."

"Point taken," Steve muttered, "Alright, I have to go. Stark is starting to bug me, he wants his phone time."

Olyvia managed to chuckle a little at that, "Alright, love you, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Be safe."

"Love you too, and I will."

Hanging up the phone, Olyvia sighed and looked over to her car keys. Though she wanted ice cream, she was feeling incredibly lazy. After debating with herself for a few minutes, she finally got up, grabbed the keys and headed to the car. Since she was in need of a shopping trip anyway, she decided to go ahead and buy her other groceries instead of making another trip another day. She ended up with a full cart by the end of the trip, and she was dreading having to put it all away in the car, let alone back at the house. As she began placing bags in the trunk, a middle aged man approached her.

"Here, let me help you," he offered.

Normally she would have declined someone's help, due to also being paranoid of strangers from her previous kidnappings, but she was just so exhausted she didn't care right now. Besides, he had a kind face and a warm smile.

"Thanks," Olyvia said as the two of them worked on placing the bags into the trunk, "Even though it's the middle of the day, I'm already tuckered out."

"I can imagine," the man said, "Well…okay maybe I can't."

Olyvia smiled at that comment. She doubted most men could imagine being pregnant.

With the man's help she was able to get everything in, in record time. It was just going to be the transferring from the car to her kitchen that just might do her in. At least she had a bit more energy to do that though.

"Again, thank you so much…Mr.—," she paused to see if he would give her his name.

"You can call me Phil."


End file.
